Young Justice: Humanity
by Freddy Mercury's Moustache
Summary: The Light was defeated, and the world saved, but a lot can happen in five years, and a lot was left unseen between 2010 and 2016... that is, until now.
1. Valentine's Day

**A/N This is a sequel to my Young Justice story, Maiden of Might. To understand some things, I'd suggest reading that first.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Metropolis  
** **Team Year One  
** **February** **1** **4** **, 12:32 EST**

In the city of Metropolis, if someone were to say the name 'Supergirl' a number of images would likely conjure in their minds.

The Girl of Steel, for one, cousin to the legendary Superman, a member of the prestigious Justice League, the indestructible young woman named Kara Zor-El. That last part was much less public.

In her private life, her name was Linda Lang, niece to Daily Planet reporter Lana Lang, student at Metropolis University, best friend to Siobhan Smythe, and art prodigy.

And then there was her team, or rather, her _former_ team. For just less than one year ago, she and three other 'sidekicks', a title they still disliked, broke into a genetics lab in Washington D.C. There, she, Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash had discovered that Cadmus labs had cloned Superman, and created Superboy, later named Connor Kent.

After saving the clone, and convincing the League to form a covert ops team of their own, they met M'gann M'orzz, Miss Martian. For the next six months, they slowly unraveled a evil plan to destroy the Justice League headed by Vandal Savage and his group known as The Light.

They had made new friends, like Artemis Crock, Zatanna Zatara, and Raquel Ervin, or Rocket, and alongside their friend Red Arrow, a clone in his own right, Supergirl joined the Justice League, and helped save the world from Vandal Savage's plot.

However, even after that entire ordeal, Kara had unfortunately found herself sitting on the roof edge of Metropolis' Lex Corp HQ tower, bored out of her genius Kryptonian mind. Today was apparently a holiday known as Valentine's Day, and one that _everybody_ had neglected to explain was a holiday to celebrate love and relationships.

A short internet search had revealed that, despite it being a globally known event, somehow humans had misinterpreted the meaning of their own holiday. Saint Valentine's story is one of martyrdom, and how that translated into love was beyond Kara, but nonetheless, she shrugged it off.

Or she would have, had all her friends and family not made plans on the day without telling her. A trip to Mount Justice, the Team's secret base, had revealed that Connor and M'gann had taken advantage of their last week on holiday, and gone on a 'date'. As had Kid Flash (Wally West) with Artemis, Robin had gone out with Zatanna, even Aqualad AKA Kaldur and Raquel were out.

Seeing no other option, Kara returned to Metropolis instead, only to find out that Siobhan was also on a date, and even Lana was busy.

Kara even went to the Watchtower, the League's orbiting space-station base, where all but Martian Manhunter were, surprise, on dates! She would've helped the Martian with monitor duty, but that seemed a little, rather a lot, dull.

And now, here she was, atop one of Metropolis' tallest towers, using her scarcely activated microscopic vision to watch T.V in an apartment three blocks away. There wasn't any sound, but Cat Grant was stood beside a 'love heart' shaped screen displaying candid photos of various Leaguers.

Using the combined powers of common sense, process of elimination, and basic knowledge of the day's importance, Kara could only guess it was some sort of a 'who are the world's heroes with on the day of love?' Segment. And then her own picture came up on the screen, showing her standing in the middle of the park, as she had been earlier, with some... Man, sprinting up behind her, holding a bouquet of roses. She didn't know what exactly it meant, but she wasn't so impressed.

This could be a... problem. No matter how someone interpreted the picture, it was bad. Either she looked like a woman who ignored her fans/admirers, or she looked like she was genuinely with the man, but she was honestly leaning towards the former.

Hoping for more information on the story, Kara dropped off the Lex Corp tower, and fell to the ground. From there, she could take the short walk back to her apartment, and enter via the often neglected roof.

She dropped to the ground, making sure to slow her fall so as to not leave a crater in the middle of the sidewalk, and set off for her apartment.

Along the way, she began to notice people giving her strange looks. Women shook their heads ever-so-slightly, men looked away as if she would fry them just for thinking about her, and children who would normally look up at the girl in awe were pushed behind their mother's backs surreptitiously.

She was starting to feel annoyed, but also worried at what the looks could mean. She had ideas, and they were cemented when she overheard two women speaking as if she couldn't hear. Well, normally she wouldn't, but she _was_ Kryptonian after all.

 _"Well, look at that."_

 _"What is it?"_

 _"It's that Supergirl woman, the one who thinks she's_ oh _so better than us_ mortals."

 _"Tsk, what a waste of such a pretty young woman, such a shame."_

 _"Mm, yes well, I always knew those hero types were too big for their boots."_

Okay, this was getting out of hand. Kara needed to quell these rumours, and there was only one place to do so. The Daily Planet.

The Daily Planet was the one of the biggest news companies in the world, still publishing it's weekly paper, but also branching interstate to places like Central City and Gotham, broadcasting it's own T.V station, and was even moving inti internet news. It was the centre of almost all American media.

The blonde flew up to the Planet's main floor, where the company's highest paid reporters (both newspaper and T.V program) were.

She moved to a window that looked out into the floor, and slipped in through an opening gap _just_ wide enough for her to fit through.

Immediately, she was swamped with reporters that she had to carefully wade through in order to reach Cat Grant's office. Admittedly, the two didn't exactly like each other, but Grant had prided herself on only reporting the truth, and not published slanderous articles out of spite.

It was through this honesty that she had earned herself a private office besides that of Lois Lane and Clark Kent, an office she was currently inside.

The reporter looked over in surprise when the blue and red clad superhero slipped inside, and fixed her a glare.

"Supergirl" she greeted tensely "what brings you here?"

"Why don't you ask _them?"_ Kara jerked her head to a window view of the city.

Grant was confused "what do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm here to speak with you about how the whole city, maybe even country, thinks I'm some kind of ungrateful jerk!"

"Wait, what?" Now Grant was confused _and_ worried. An angry Supergirl was not something to take lightly.

"Your story, the one about the League and their, I don't know, dates or whatever, what was that all about!?"

"My... My story?"

"Yes, the one that makes me look bad!" Kara was done with her games

"Makes you look bad? My story was a sympathetic piece, I was applauding you."

"You... You were?" Now Kara was stunned.

"Here-" Grant pulled up the story on her computer, and played through to the Supergirl part "here, watch this."

Kara did _"and on to one of the League's latest inductees, Supergirl._

 _"When we went looking for the Girl of Steel, we weren't disappointed, and found the young woman right here in Metropolis park._

 _"Supergirl was unfortunately busy at the time with the never-ending work of a hero, but that didn't deter one over-zealous fan with a little_ too _much love on his mind._

 _"A statement received from the man afterwards revealed he may or may not have had a little liquid help in lowering his inhibitions._

 _"To Supergirl we say, happy Valentine's Day, and we hope you steer clear of any other eager fans with more that romance on the mind."_

"You... You made me look like a... Victim?" Kara was stunned, Cat Grant actually played a story with no context to her favour.

"Look Supergirl, we aren't friends, I may even say we don't like each other, but I'm through with running smear campaigns, and I know you wouldn't treat your fans with such disrespect" she then waved a hand at the screen "besides, did you _see_ that guy's face? He had crazy eyes up the wazoo."

Kara chuckled slightly, but then an unsettled look took over her face "but if _you_ didn't run an article to make me look bad, who did?"

"I may have an idea" a voice replied from the doorway. Entering Grant's office were Lois Lane and Clark Kent, the latter was Superman's secret identity.

"Lois, Clark, back from your date already?" Grant raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, we were just coming to drop off some files I had lying around, when we noticed Supergirl was here" Clark explained.

"Naturally, we had to investigate-" Lois smirked "-and it sounds like you have a secret-enemy."

She then moved over to Grants computer and moved to a URL none of them had seen before.

On the front page was a older man in a chair sitting beside the very same photo Grant had in her story.

"This is G. Gordon Godfrey, he's a small time reporter for an indie site who usually runs anti-Justice League stories filled to the brim with slanderous lies-" the woman told them "-usually he doesn't get much notice, but 'Supergirl' is just the right mixture of 'major news' and 'unknown' to successfully run a piece like this" she then hit play.

 _"Supergirl, the Maiden of Might, or rather, Maiden of Malice._

 _"Welcome to Godfrey's Bonehead List. My name is G. Gordon Godfrey, your go-to source for news on the Justice League's_ true _side._

 _"Today we will be looking at the arrogance and selfishness of a woman known to the world as Supergirl..."_

The report went on to spin the picture in a way that painted Kara as a villain, so completely absorbed in her own power, that she disregards the what he implied she called 'mere mortals'.

"What!?" She yelled "and people are believing this stuff!?"

"Like I said" Lois held a hand up to calm her "the people don't know enough about you, and they'll believe whatever source they can get to.

"This is all Superman's fault" Kara decided.

"Woah, let's not play _that_ game" Clark tried to stop her, but she wouldn't be deterred.

"No, it is. Well, not directly, but those people look up to him so much, they can't help but ignore what _I_ do for them" she frowned.

"Well, you know how to fix that?" Grant asked "you go out, and _prove_ you're on their side."

Kara stopped, and looked away in thought "yeah, you're right-" she nodded "-I just need to go out and do something they'll _really_ notice... But what?"

In lieu of a reply, Grant opened up a low drawer in her desk and pulled out a police radio "I bought this years ago, back when I was still running low level articles on bank robberies and muggings, it _should_ help you find a major crime now."

She tuned the radio until a crackly voice filtered through _"calling all officers, we have a 417, 10-79 with a 10-53, on Keyes avenue, copy!"_

Quickly summoning her knowledge of police codes, Kara told them, "that's a person with a gun, a bomb threat, and a man down."

"Well, that's convenient" Grant smiled.

"I'll go deal with that, you just make it with your camera in time" Kara didn't give them time to react before she sped from the office.

 **Metropolis  
** **February 14, 13:35 EST**

The scene if the crime was, in honesty, grim. Three squad cars park out in front of an apartment block were riddled with bullet holes, and inside, a man with an assault rifle and a crazed look in his eyes periodically peeked out from cover to fire a few more.

A short scan with her X-ray vision revealed a large, complex bomb inside, and she could clearly see an officers with blood staining his lower-right abdomen lying in the road, behind a low wall.

Kara crept over to another officer who was crouched behind his car.

"S-Supergirl!?" He looked relieved "thank god you got here, maybe _you_ can sort this psycho out."

She nodded "that's what I'm here for" she gave him a kind smile, and sped over to the wall where the injured officer lay. The gunman hadn't spotted her yet.

"S-Super-" he coughed "-Supergirl? What're-"

She stopped him with a hand "don't worry sir, I'm gonna get you away from here, I just need you grab me tight, and don't let go" he did so, and she slowly shifted him into her arms, bridal-style. One more zoom later, and she was back in the safety behind the cars, where some other officers could take care of his wounds.

She then turned back to the apartment block, and slowly stepped out from cover, and marched over to the lobby. On the way, the gunman spotted her, and fired. Unfortunately, her old martian-tech bio-suit was unsalvageable (she may have burnt the items after a mind-control chip had been planted, but before she realised a cure could be made) so her costume was sustaining slight damage to the sleeves and cape.

She stepped inside the apartment lobby, and came face to face with the gunman who was now pulling the trigger of his rifle to the sound of empty clicks. Realising his magazine was empty, the criminal began to fumble around for a new one.

"Listen to me sir, I'm asking you to stand down, so we can end this without anyone getting hurt" she said.

"No, screw that!" He shouted "Godfrey was right about youse hero types! Ya'll are just murderers waitin' to happen!" He finally reloaded the assault rifle successfully, and immediately emptied the new magazine with now effect into the girl "and when this here bomb goes off-" he continued, unperturbed "-the whole city's gonna blame _you_ for-" he wasn't given time to finish when Kara punched him in the face, knocking the psycho out.

Moving over to the bomb, she took a close look with her infrared and X-ray visions. It was a fairly basic device. Nothing too hard to diffuse, but certainly more than what any normal nut-job could piece together. It was disturbing to say the least.

With only a few wires severed, none of the 'red or blue' stuff most movies used, she managed to deactivate the bomb, and to quote her friend Robin, she now felt significantly more 'turbed' than before.

Sparing one arm for each, the blonde hefted both the unconscious gunman, and the diffused bomb out into the street for the police to take care of. A short talk with the police later, she then moved to where Cat Grant was standing nearby, reporting on the sudden crime.

"-and once again, Supergirl saves our city from evil" she turned to the Kryptonian "speaking of, Supergirl, do you have any comments on the crime?"

"Well, there isn't much to say, just that I'm happy everyone got out alive, and that I'm a little upset that such an event would happen on a day like this. Happy Valentine's Day Metropolis, you've earned it" she flashed the camera a smile, and took off into the air, muttering out of any earshot about how much she hated Valentine's Day.

* * *

 **A/N And that was the debut of my second Young Justice story; Humanity (trust me, it works better than Legacy). I'm definitely going to be making events that will likely contradict the continuity of the source material, but all should be in order by the time we reach Invasion.**

 **A bit of a short start, but I think a campy little piece that** _ **doesn't**_ **reflect my own views on Valentine's Day was both a steady introduction to the story, and a nice wind down from the drama in the end of it's predecessor, Maiden of Might.**

 **P.S. Have you ever noticed how warm and fuzzy reviews feel? Because they do that, all of them. Even if I don't outright respond, I read all reviews and actually take into account what you readers are saying.**


	2. Tension

**A/N Btw, if any of you has an idea for a chapter in this story, don't be afraid to send it in. The story is going to follow a formula similar to the old Teen Titans cartoon did, in that every second or third chapter will be more of a fun piece meant to break tension or basically just take a rest from the main story, whether for longevity, or writer's block.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Mount Justice  
** **February 19, 11:45 EST**

"Hey M'gann, could you pass me the salt?" Kara called across the cave's kitchen.

To go in with the sugar?" M'gann looked skeptical.

"Yes" the blonde nodded. Earlier that day, Kara had spontaneously decided to make a Kryptonian dish she could remember from her earlier childhood, well, she was actually making the closest thing she could to it with what was at her disposal.

The decision to do so had came upon her shortly after a little spat she and Connor had earlier that day over the prioritisation of saving civilians versus stopping a fleeing criminal. Annoyingly, she was having more and more arguments with her half-cousin, and afterwards, she always would feel the need to indulge her Kryptonian side for a short while.

"What _are_ you making?" M'gann asked, snapping Kara out of her thoughts.

"Well, the closest Earth dish I could compare it to would be... a cross between garlic bread, and custard"

M'gann grimaced at that idea, and Kara quickly backtracked "but that's a _very_ loose comparison, trust me, It really is good."

The Martian still didn't look so pleased.

Sudden loud noises came from the short hallway out if the kitchen as Wally, Robin and Superboy came through. The first two were talking amicably, but the latter was looking around the room like he wanted to be anywhere else.

Wally noticed Kara was making food, and raced over to a kitchen stool "hey, what's cookin' good-lookin'?" He winked.

"You know I can reach Artemis in less than two minutes and tell her _exactly_ what you just said, right?" The blonde countered, and the redhead paled to his shorter friend's laughter.

"Seriously though, what _are_ you making?" Robin asked.

"An old Kryptonian meal my mother used to make" she faltered slightly while moving the tray of food over to the oven, but recovered without anybody noticing, hopefully.

"Huh, maybe you can try some of your people's food, right S.B?" Wally looked over to the clone who was staring at a static on the T.V. He grunted in reply.

"Alright, what's wrong with-" Wally was cut off when Kara stepped back over to them.

"So where're the others?" She cut in.

The other three were silent for a moment "well, Artemis is out with Raquel and Zatanna right now" the redhead explained.

"And Aqualad is on patrol with Aquaman" Robin finished.

"Is there... Something we should-" this time, Kara cut M'gann off.

"Hey, none of you have heard back from Ro- Red Arrow yet, right?" That last one was out of legitimate concern just as much as it was out of a desire for her issues with Connor to stay hidden from the team.

"No, not yet" Robin replied slightly saddened. At least the Connor thing was dropped.

 _"Batman to team, mission briefing in ten"_ a deep voice sounded over the intercom. Kara sighed and turned the oven off, her Kryptonian food would have to wait.

Later, the five stood in the cave ops area staring at a holographic display of Batman's face.

"Satellite images show a meteor crash landed in the Antarctic region several hours ago. The League's computers have been unable to identify it's origin."

"So? that kind of thing isn't really-"

Batman stopped Wally short "what disturbs me is that it's radiation pattern following entry into the atmosphere is virtually identical to one other recorded event that took place five years ago-" Kara's eye narrowed "-the day Supergirl's pod landed in Gotham Bay."

"Wait, so you're saying-"

This time, Kara interrupted the Boy Wonder "that a meteor of potential Kryptonian origin is in the middle of the Antarctic right now" she frowned.

"Exactly. You are to investigate and report all findings to the League immediately."

"How come _you_ haven't checked it out?" Connor grumbled.

"All other League personnel are currently unavailable-" he went silent as if contemplating what to say next "-that, and Superman felt it important his cousin be the one to investigate.

"Supergirl, in Aqualad's absence, you will be team leader."

"Wait, me?" She made an incredulous face, thinking back to the last time she had led the team on a mission. The Harjavti mission in Qurac was... not her shining moment.

"Yes. As a member of the Justice League, you outrank all members the team. This is just as much, if not more so a mission for you, as it is for them" he then cut transmission.

"Well then, let's head to the bio-ship" she decided.

 **Antarctica  
** **February 20, 0** **6:30** **UTC** **+13**

As they approached the GPS coordinates that Batman had sent them, Kara stood from her seat at the front of the bio-ship "polar stealth everyone" in seconds, the rest had changed into white versions of their costumes, complete with extras just for temperature control.

"So, any ideas on what this thing is?" Wally asked the group.

"No" Supergirl replied "Batman said it was identical to the pod I travelled in to Earth, but as far as I know, only two were ever made before Krypton... Y'know. One for me, and one for Ka- Superman."

"Maybe there _was_ a third? Maybe some other scientist on your home planet figured it out and made it here?" Robin suggested.

"I doubt it" but that didn't mean she couldn't hope.

Reaching their destination, they found the meteor had completely obliterated a small iceberg. They landed, and disembarked slowly approached what appeared to be some kind of... pod.

The pod was almost identical to the very same craft Kara had travelled to Earth in, only instead of a large clear window to it's interior, there was only a small panel situated in the middle of a far larger one.

Kara, remaining cautious, grabbed hold of the panel's side, and taking a deep breath, ripped it open.

Moments later, she and Superboy were kneeling on the ice below in pain while Robin hastily shut the panel back up, hiding them from the kryptonite's green glow.

"K-kryptonite?" The blonde groaned.

"What's _that_ doing here?" Robin asked.

"I don't know-" Kara replied, standing back up, "-but we should report back to the League with this."

They turned to move back to the bio-ship, when a low creaking stopped them.

"What was-" Wally was interrupted for the umpteenth time that day when the larger panel of the pod shot by them, barely missing them all.

Spinning on their heels, the team ended up face to face with a decrepit old android. It was tall, taller than Superman, and even wider too. It was a deep grey in some places, and a charred black in others. Whole pieces of metal had clearly been ripped off and re-welded on, and when it shakily raised one arm to point at them, letting out a distorted squeal, it's eyes glowed a bright red.

The android flew forward at them, and tackled Kara to the ground easily. It then began to throw punches faster than she could block, and hard enough to rapidly crack the ice below them.

Acting quick, the boys surged forward, and using every bit of strength they could, tore the android off Kara.

Spinning on them, it smacked Kid away like a chunk of raw meat. He flew through the air, and hit the ice with a loud thud several metres away.

Behind, M'gann attempted to remain invisible and use her telepathy to break the circuitry inside, but the android somehow anticipated the attack, and grab her by the neck. The android tugged her in front if itself, and threw a series of punches to her gut. It then dropped her to the ground, where she clutched her abdomen in pain.

Next, it moved on to Robin. The boy threw an explosive birdarang at the android's chest, and it exploded into a thick cloud of smoke.

Thinking the fight over, Robin was caught off guard when the android shot through the smoke and grabbed him by the arm. It then whipped him over it's head, and down into the ice, where a loud crack filled the air. The ice was still intact.

Connor jumped at the android next and began to throw super-powered punches at it's face. Each one was blocked, and soon, Connor had been tired out enough for one mighty punch downward to send the clone through the ice, into the freezing water.

With it's opponents all taken care of, the android jumped away from the scene with a speed and height matching Superboy's.

Slowly, the dazed and hurt team recovered, and reconvened. Robin was gripping his arm at an awkward angle, and grimacing in pain. Kara immediately shot over to help support him over her shoulder, and move him to the bio-ship.

Kid was stumbling over, and M'gann clutched her mid-section tight. Ignoring them all, Superboy quickly took three steps in the direction the android left.

"Connor?" Kara called, instantly noticing.

"Someone's gotta go after it" the clone didn't look back.

"And we will, after we can deal with Robin's arm, I think it's broken" she began moving again, but Connor did not.

"Connor, I-"

"I don't care, I'm going after that... thing" he began to walk away again "don't try to stop me."

"Connor, stop right now" she demanded. He did not "I said, stop Connor!" But her continued to walk "Superboy, I am _ordering_ you to stay put!" She yelled.

He turned to look at her for a moment, and jumped anyway, leaving the team behind.

She growled audibly, and shifted Robin on her shoulder "Kid" she called "can you still run?"

"I think so" he nodded.

"Okay. Go get Superboy, and try to talk some sense into him, M'gann and I will deal with this. He nodded again, and sped off after the clone.

M'gann then helped Kara carry Robin onto the ship, and created a makeshift splint. They'd have to deal with his broken arm very soon. Next they moved the pod onto the ship, being sure to take as much care as possible, and took off in the direction Kid and Connor had left.

Arriving at the scene, they found a beaten and dented android with the entirety of it's head, bar face torn off and strewn about the area. Connor knelt of the ground, panting, and Kid stood beside him awkwardly.

They landed, and Kara marched over to the clone in a frenzy "Connor Kent I _ordered_ you to stay put!"

He didn't answer, he only stood up, and made his way over to the ship.

"Connor, _look_ at me when I'm talking to you!" But he ignored her still.

Fed up with his attitude, Kara marched right up behind him, and in one movement, spun him around, and punched him in the face. He lurched to the side in shock.

Her eyes were ablaze with fury, almost literally. They had even begun to faintly glow red "Superboy, _I_ am your superior, and _I_ was team leader on this mission, and _you_ will listen to _me!"_ She roared "I ordered you to stay put, but you didn't listen. You placed the pursuit of a criminal above your own teammate's wellbeing, and you disregarded the chain of command."

"Well what are _you_ gonna do about it!?" He roared right back.

"As I am _still_ team leader right now, I am officially suspending you from any and all mission for the foreseeable future, until further notice."

Wally and M'gann gaped at this, and Connor's jaw fell open.

"Y-you can't do that!"

"I can, and I will. You can take this time to think about how a _real_ team player works, now get in the bio-ship" she followed with the android's lifeless husk, dragging it along the ice

The entire flight back was tense, with Superboy glowering in his seat, and Supergirl trying to cool off from her earlier tirade, with the other three stuck between them.

 **Mount Justice  
** **February 20, 01:32 EST**

Now Kara stood in the cave beside Batman, Aqualad and Robin, staring down at the broken android's body.

"This... This can't be real" Kara shook her head.

"What is it?" "Do you recognise this tech?" Asked Aqualad and Batman.

"I... I do. It's Kryptonian-" she sighed "-a long time ago, the Kryptonian military guild created these androids. They were called Metallo Units, and were constructed with the purpose of protection for inter-planetary research teams.

"Everyone thought it was a great idea, until something went wrong. In all of our colonies, on all of our planets, the Metallo Units began to... rebel, turn on their creators. We never figured out why.

"When we realised that the units couldn't be stopped, the Krypton head council ordered that all possible means of reaching Krypton from these colonies be destroyed, and they were, before the scientists could escape.

"A lot of people were killed by these things, it was fortunate that they have a limited energy life-" she opened the Metallo Unit's chest panel, where a spherical stone with a dull red glow was "-these power cores don't last long, a few years as most, so I'm shocked that this one managed to remain functional."

"I'm more concerned about the _other_ artefact you retrieved-" Batman gestured to the pod across the room "-how this android managed to procure both a source of Kryptonite _and_ the plans to build what you say was a closely guarded secret, I want to know."

"So do I, but we should keep an eye out for any others just like it" Kara agreed. And things had _just_ begun to settle down.

* * *

 **A/N uh oh, brewing animosity between the Supers, and a new villain? Let's see how** _ **this**_ **goes. I'm aware that this isn't even close to Metallo's origin story, but I'm trying my own thing.**

 **P.S. Expect relatively slow updates, I don't like to keep readers waiting for long periods, but I can only really write when inspiration hits.**


	3. Blood Brother

**A/N So, I need reader input, should I do the 'cliche' chapter plots for some of the 'fun' chapters. I.e. One set in a gender-swapped universe, one set in a universe where Kara landed on earth at a different time, those kind of things, would that at all interest people?**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **The Watchtower  
** **February 22, 19:42 EST**

Monitor duty. The League responsibility all seemed to dread. Kara didn't think it would be so bad, but oh how she was wrong.

She wasn't even _scheduled_ for monitor duty. Somehow, the Flash and Captain Marvel managed to trick her into taking over their turn. She had been _tricked_ by a _ten-year-old._

She hoped Kal wouldn't find that part out, or she'd _never_ hear the end of it.

The only bright side of it was that she had unlimited time to get her thoughts in order, and she could still help with missions. Batman had spoken to the team earlier, she was present at time, and sent them on a mission in Qurac, a place they were _too_ familiar with.

Apparently Marie Logan, the wildlife activist/retired actor, had gone missing. Batman wouldn't usually send a force like the entire team to investigate, but Queen Bee had been implicated, and there were suggestions that Garfield Logan had something she wanted, and that the League didn't want her to have.

But the moment Kara had been zeta'd to the Watchtower, the two men on monitor duty set about tricking the Kryptonian, and here she was. About ten minutes before hand, she contacted the team and explained she could keep track of their mission from there, using the League's satellites.

She was currently watching a small blip on a radar fly to the drop-zone, while keeping in radio contact.

"When you reach drop point A, alpha squad will deploy. Maintain stealth mode, and engage all contacts. We have reason to believe Queen Bee will have soldiers guarding the Logan household" she spoke up.

 _"Copy"_ Aqualad replied. She could imagine him and Kid Flash switching over their suit modes to stealth now, ready to deploy with Superboy and Zatanna.

After she had calmed down following the fight with the Metallo Unit, Kara decided to give Connor a second chance, but not without a strong warning.

 _"Drop zone A in 10"_ Miss Martian spoke up.

"Beta squad, do you remember orders?" Kara asked.

 _"Drop zone B, infiltrate Queen Bee's palace. Garfield Logan is primary objective, Bee's plans are secondary"_ Robin answered, gently rubbing the cast around his arm. Batman had cleared him for the mission, but not without a stern, almost fatherly order to stay out of combat.

Kara doubted the boy would listen.

"Okay teams, good luck, and going dark" Kara then severed radio contact for the time being.

 **Qurac  
** **February 23, 02:50 UTC+2**

They were now only about two minutes out from drop zone A. Aqualad stood beside Connor, and behind them stood Zatanna and Kid. Kara had suggested the squad system, _and_ the squad line ups. The Atlantean was unsure at first, but once she explained that it was to make sure 'inter-team romances' wouldn't compromise the mission, he relented.

The mission was strange, but Batman had seemed to be sure something bigger was happening. M'gann was also very nervous, but what he had heard from Robin, Kid and Kara about the Rumaan Harjavti mission explained it. She was nervous about the Logans, and if they were okay.

"We're here" M'gann announced, her face a stony mask to hide the worry she undoubtedly felt for the Logans.

The four jumped out of the back of the bio-ship, and landed with thuds a few miles from the Logan home.

Silently, they began the march to their destination, the night sky blending with the deep black of their clothing. Aqualad felt the comm in his ear crackle to life.

 _"I'm going to keep communications to a minimum, but League satellites are picking up ten heat signatures inside the target location, and three more outside."_

"Copy" Aqualad whispered.

They continued on silently, with Kara calling in every now and then to warn them of Bialayan soldiers driving nearby.

Eventually, they made it to a distance where they could see their target. Two soldiers were standing by the open barn doors, talking, and the third was sitting on the hood of one of two trucks that sat parked outside the house.

Aqualad gave a wave of his hand as signal, and Kid ran forward towards the lone soldier, while Zatanna held her hands out to the others "etativel rieht snopaew" the rifles they held now began to float in the air above their heads, and they looked up in awe "pord meht!" They then fell from the air, and hit the soldiers in their faces, knocking them down.

Next to the trucks, Kid had smacked the lone soldier in the side of the head whilst running at full speed, and impact that would have done very serious damage, if he had've left his helmet off. The soldier dropped to the ground, and Kid redirected his path to finish off the other two.

With all three men taken out, Kaldur and Superboy moved in.

 _"Just saw a fourth heat signature collide with the external soldiers at inhuman speeds, I'm guessing that was Kid?"_ Kara asked suddenly.

"Correct, now moving on target" Kaldur replied. He and Superboy slowly crept over to the building, while Kid ran around the back, and Zatanna levitated herself onto the roof.

 **Bialya  
** **February 23, 03:20 UTC+2**

Drop zone B turned out to be not much better than A. As the remaining members of the team landed on the roof of Queen Bee's palace, noticeable increases in her security could be spotted.

Several trucks were making rounds along a high, double-layered fence outside the palace. Three teams of five soldiers stood on strategically located sections of roof, and guard towers peppered the outer fencing of the palace.

Queen Bee was scared, and they had to find out why.

They began by finding a way in via the roof. A large window took up a great deal of it, and Robin dropped to his knees beside the glass, while the girls cautiously looked around for guards.

A glass panel loosened with a pop, and Robin shifted the glass from it's position, to rest beside the hole he had just created. The rooftop guards didn't seem to be patrolling, only keeping watch, which meant they wouldn't likely spot the hole.

M'gann and Rocket hovered down through the entrance, while Robin and Artemis slid down a pair of cables they had dropped into it.

 _"Vent cover, opposite wall"_ Artemis called through M'gann's telepathic link once her feet were planted.

 _"Got it"_ the Martian telekinetically lifted the cover up from it's position, and her three squad mates quickly shot into the vents, with her following, placing the cover back over their entryway

 _"Question, how are we supposed to know where our target is?"_ Rocket asked.

Robin gave an awkward shrug in response.

He was planning on winging it, but from subtle characteristics of the building, he probably wouldn't have to do so for long.

He had noticed that, while security was strong around the entire palace, it was noticeably concentrated towards the back of the compound.

Hoping to confirm his theory, Robin stopped and placed a hand, his injured one, to his comm, and shut out M'gann from his mind.

"Supergirl, can you get any thermal imaging from Bee's palace?" He whispered.

 _"Hang on"_ she replied, and went silent for a moment _"yes, I'm watching it now"_

"Is there any noticeable concentration towards the rear of the palace?"

 _"Uh... yeah, there seems to be a lot- hang on"_ she stopped short _"weird"_

"What is it?"

 _"There's one signature I'm picking up in the south-eastern section of the palace, it's looks like someone... sleeping. Also, they're not alone. There're about six other signatures in the same room, but they're all awake and moving"_

"Copy" Robin replied "going dark."

He continued leading his squad through the cramped ventilation system, the girls following close behind.

As he crawled, the small pressure in the back of his mind that signified M'gann's telepathic presence came back.

 _"Well?"_ She asked him.

 _"South-east section of the palace, security is stronger there, and Supergirl thinks something's up"_ he explained.

 _"You think it's the kid?"_ Artemis asked.

Robin didn't answer, only continued to silently lead them through the metal vents, trying to focus their approach south-east.

After minutes of silent crawling, Robin stopped at the head of the line.

 _"Vents stop here, but it looks like we should be near our target soon"_

He pulled the metal grate covering their exit, and slid it to the side, opening the vents up to a hallway coated floor to ceiling with old paintings, not a small amount depicting Queen Bee in various scenarios of heroism.

He dropped to the ground, and looked down at a hologram projected from the glove on his uninjured arm for a moment while the girls followed.

 _"This way"_ he looked right, and began creeping down the hall.

Just as they reached a corner, he threw himself against the wall, and held a finger to his mouth as a sign for absolute silence.

Voices were echoing down the hall, and Robin was frantically looking for a better hiding place, when he felt himself suddenly being lifted into the air. Rocket had created a kinetic energy bubble around the squad, and was flying them over the heads of the oblivious guards, down the hallway, and around another corner.

She gently placed them all back on the ground, and Robin gave her a smile and nod as thanks, before schooling his face once more, and leading his squad down the halls again. Eventually, they came to a T junction.

 _"Which way?"_ Miss M asked, worry flavouring her voice.

Circles of light began to dance on the walls and floors at one branch of the junction, Bialyan voices echoing through once more.

 _"Left I guess"_ Robin replied, and ducked in the direction.

They slipped through another vent cover further down the next hallway, and M'gann pulled it shut just as a guard patrol came around the corner behind them.

They began to crawl down the vents, and after a short while, came up on another cover below them. Robin peeked through.

 _"Hallway, with four vent covers above it. About eight guards."_

 _"We can take one vent cover, and two guards each"_ Artemis suggested. The boy wonder nodded, and quickly shuffled to the vent at the very end, Artemis behind him, and Rocket just before M'gann _"be careful with your arm Robin"_ the Martian called after him.

 _"One, two, three!"_

 **Qurac  
** **February 23, 03:20 UTC +2**

Zatanna dropped onto the roof with a light thunk, and crept over to the side of the house where the balcony hung.

Peeking over the edge, she saw a soldier walk out onto the balcony, an lean on the railing. He would easily notice the outside soldiers missing if she didn't take him out, quickly.

"Kaerb eht nedoow gniliar!" She whispered. Suddenly, the railing he was leaning in snapped, and her fell all the way down to the ground, onto his back "pord a gnilwob llab" a bowling ball then materialised in the air above him, and dropped onto his helmeted head. The helmet took most of the impact, but not enough to leave him conscious.

She swung out over the roof's edge, and onto the place where the soldier fell from, just as shouts and gunfire erupted from below her. The boys had clearly made contact with the rest of the soldiers.

Four men stood before her, and spun around at the sound of her landing.

One pointed at her, and yelled something in another language, while the other three started firing.

Thinking fast, Zatanna dove behind a couch. Fortunately, the only wounds she took were to her clothing, where bullets had slightly frayed the sleeves of her jacket.

The hail of gunfire seemed to stop for a moment, giving her time to peek out and cast a spell "etativ-" her spell was cut off when the fire began again, and a bullet cut through her arm.

She gripped the wound tight. It was only a graze, but she was on her own, against four armed soldiers.

The gunfire went on for a couple of seconds longer, before stopping. One soldier, no doubt the leader, whispered something Zatanna couldn't understand, and quiet footsteps on the wood followed. She tried to slow her breathing down.

A muffled scream broke the silence, and Superboy suddenly shot up through the floor between Zatanna and the soldiers.

She allowed herself another look over the couch, and saw them concentrating their fire on the indestructible teenager.

Behind the soldiers, Kid Flash and Aqualad ran up the stairs, and the Bialyan in charge seemed to figure out they were now outgunned.

He ordered something else in Bialyan, and three of them ran toward the balcony. On their way, the leader pushed the fourth soldier into Superboy, who was sufficiently startled by the act to stumble backwards, and inadvertently allow the three to jump off the balcony, run to a truck, and begin speeding away by the time the team recovered, and jumped to the ground after them.

Connor gave a roar, and seemed to be about to run after them, when their comms crackled to life with Supergirl's voice.

 _"Don't chase them down Superboy, we have priorities."_

 **Bialya  
** **February 23, 03:40 UTC +2**

 _"One, two, three!"_

At once all four shot through the vent covers below them, startling the guards below with the entrance.

At the end of the hallway, Robin leapt into the air as one guard tried to grab him. The boy wonder landed behind the stumbling man, and kicked him hard enough in the back to send him crashing into the guard opposite.

The men fell over, and robin threw a disc on the back of the guard on top. It lit up with a light blue, and released enough volts of electricity to flow through _both_ men, knocking them out with the shock.

Meanwhile, Artemis had dropped directly into a crouch. The guard behind her attempted to attack first, but the archer swung her legs backward, and swept his out from underneath him. The guard fell forwards onto his face, and Artemis slipped backward, and onto her feet, avoiding his landing all together.

She pulled her bow off her back, and quickly fired an arrow at her second opponent, which exploded into a net of web that stuck him to the wall, helpless. To finish them off, she kicked the guard on the wall in his face, and stomped the floor-guard's face into the ground.

While this was happening, Rocket had apparently taken on the one guard smart enough to try firing his rifle. Thinking quick, she threw up a bubble of energy around him just as the first bullet left the gun. Stepping backward, she threw the bubble across the hall into the second guard, smashing him into the wall. She then repeated the move several times, until he was slumped over, unconscious.

Left with the guard inside the bubble, she allowed the energy to drop, and free him. The sudden loss of his kinetic prison startled the man, and gave Rocket enough time to dart forward, snatch his gun, and just as he realised what was happening, she swung the rifle like a club into his face, the impact of which left him, too, unconscious.

Finally, at the very rear of the group, M'gann dropped to the ground, and immediately shot backwards as a guard attempted to grab her. Going invisible, she flew around him, while he tried to attack, and the other guard joined in.

She turned herself visible again in between the two, and dodged just as they each threw a punch, allowing the guards to hit each other. Using her telekinesis, she lifted a taser she had noticed was strapped to one of their belts, and fired it at one of them, leaving him convulsing on the ground.

She then turned to the other, and reached out for his mind telepathically. Both froze, and both of their eyes turned a bright green, while she extracted the information she needed. Pulling out from his mind, the guard dropped to the floor, staring blankly at the wall opposite, his mind fried.

The squad regrouped, and Robin narrowed his eyes at the brain-dead soldier _"what happened to him?"_ He asked her.

 _"That doesn't matter, what matters is that I know where Garfield is"_ she brushed off the question _"he's through those doors, and then only a left-turn away"_

Robin reluctantly nodded, and led his squad along the given directions.

They soon came up on a door that didn't exactly fit in with the rest of the palace. They looked like they would fit in better at a hospital.

Sharing a look with the girls, Robin pushed the doors open. The inside looked like a lab of some kind. On one side, Garfield lay sleeping in what could only be described as a prison cell. Three more soldiers stood next to the iron bars, and three people in lab coats typed on an array of computer monitors.

Sox heads turned to the door at the sound of it opening, and one Bialyan yelled something. Garfield jumped at the noise, and gawped at the heroes who had just entered.

Reacting almost instantly, Artemis fired an arrow at the soldier, who had placed his hand to the side of his helmet, no doubt about to call for reinforcements.

The arrow detonated, and fired a small web at the limb, pinning it to the wall behind him. He looked at the web, and began to try clawing through it, or pull his arm free, but it wouldn't give.

The other two soldiers raised their weapons to fire, but Rocket threw up a kinetic shield around all three men, preventing them from attacking.

Now helpless, Artemis nocked another arrow, and aimed it at them.

"Drop the shield, then replace it" she ordered Rocket, who nodded.

The pink barrier around the soldiers dissipated, and Artemis loosed her arrow, and Rocket threw the dome of energy up again as it entered the shield's boundaries. The arrow then burst into a thick cloud, which was completely contained within the dome, and when Rocket allowed it to drop, the three men were unconscious.

While the girls took out the soldiers, M'gann had turned to one of the scientists in the room, and entered his mind. Both her and the man's eyes glowed green, and he stumbled over to Garfield's cell.

Telepathically, she forced him to unlock the cell, and open the door. She then released him, and the scientist dropped to his knees, his eyes staring blankly at nothing, and a slow dribble coming from his mouth.

She rushed over to the opened cell, but Garfield was now looking away from the rest of the room, his shoulder shuddering, and light whimper coming from him.

With the soldiers incapacitated, and Garfield freed, Robin rushed the other two scientists in the room. One of them sprinted around him, and out of the doors. She would likely warn Bee's soldiers that the team was there, so her had to act quick.

The other scientist looked down at Robin with disdain, and lurched forward in some kind of attack.

As he moved, Robin side-stepped, and planted a small taser disc onto his back, which released it's payload, and knocked him out cold.

Robin then reopened his comms "We found Garfield, along with a whole lot of computers" he told the Kryptonian at the other end.

 _"Can you wirelessly patch me in?"_ She asked.

"I should be able to" within a few minutes, he was able to give Supergirl full access to Queen Bee's hard-drives.

From the Watchtower, Kara sifted through the mountains of information, hoping to find what Queen Bee wanted from the Logans.

She found it, among mentions of DNA splicing, records of Garfield's blood, and a report about Pygmalion, the secret project that had been hounding Kara since the previous year.

 _"Okay, I found it, and... oh"_

"What's wrong" Robin asked, looking at the sobbing Garfield across the room.

 _"I'll... I'll get back to you... J'onn will want to see this"_ she said that last part to herself.

M'gann, meanwhile, had dropped to her knees beside her 'blood brother', and held him tight as heavy sobs shook his frame. He could tell her what was wrong later.

Robin brought her attention back with a hand on her shoulder.

"We need to keep moving" he reminded. She nodded, and gently lifted the boy in her arms.

The guards around the palace were just beginning to wake up again, so Robin and Artemis made sure to give each of them another kick to the head, just to keep them down, as the group of five sprinted back through.

All around them, screams, alarms, and Queen Bee's voice coming out over the intercom filled their ears.

Breaking back out to the roof by smashing through a window beside the one they had removed to enter, the squad soon discovered they had flung themselves directly into a storm of panic and bullets. Once they broke through to the roof, several squads of Bialyan soldiers turned to them, and began to fire wildly in their direction.

Fortunately, the moment they entered the bio-ship, M'gann had it rocket directly upwards.

Robin looked on as the girls helped Garfield, and heard his comm crackle to life, Wally's dejected voice filling his ears.

 _"Guys..."_

 **Qurac  
** **February 23, 03:40 UTC +2**

"They're getting away!" Connor yelled back at his cousin through comms.

 _"No Connor, don-"_ but Kara's words fell on deaf ears, and Connor continued to follow the escaping truck.

 _"Kid-"_

"Got it" he replied, and followed Connor under Kara's unspoken, but heavily implied, orders.

The clone wasn't too hard to follow, as every time he landed, the ground seemed to shake significantly. Wally just had to follow the mini-earthquakes.

Following the enraged teen, both eventually caught up with the fleeing Bialyans, who were skirting along a large river, toward a cliff where the river poured off.

Connor jumped high into the air, and arc back down, landed directly on the hood of the truck, causing it to flip and roll violently.

Connor grabbed the leader by the front of his uniform, and jumped off the vehicle, but didn't seem to be considering going back for the other two.

Kid groaned, and sprinted to catch up with the truck before the other two soldiers could be hurt, and jerked them off too. He pulled both by their upper arms, and was able to jerk them out of the truck, into the sand beside it.

Standing back up, he watched as the truck continued to flip and roll, shedding whole pieces of metal, and go off the end of the cliff.

The two soldiers began to rise as well, but the speedster grabbed them, and smacked their heads together.

Looking over, Kid saw Connor knock the leader out with a swift punch to the side of the head, and look over at the cliff they had just been moving towards.

Wally rolled his eyes, and began the long task of dragging the men together, so that he could bind them by their wrists.

After making sure the soldiers were all zip-tied together, Wally walked over to Superboy. He was standing on the edge of the nearby cliff, right beside the waterfall, staring down. He wasn't moving.

"S.B?" He called "hey, you okay?" The clone didn't reply, so he walked over beside him to look at what he'd noticed. A car was sitting at the base of the waterfall, in the shallow river it fed into. It was upside down, and if the pieces of metal that were strewn about the ground were any indication, it hadn't landed there gently. The redhead swallowed a lump in his throat.

Superboy grabbed Wally by the upper arm, and dropped them both down to get a closer look.

The car was a wreck. Pieces of metal were indeed scattered around the area, but it wasn't the crashed vehicle that worried Wally, it was the stench. It was the kind of smell that only one thing could create, and by the look of the bloodied body Connor was prying from the wreckage, that thing was the reason Marie Logan had gone missing.

"Guys" he radioed in. Supergirl, Rob and Aqualad copied.

He sighed "I think... I think I know what happened to Marie Logan."

 **Mount Justice  
** **February 23, 12:30 EST**

In the wake of the mission, things around the cave became unbearably sombre. The League allowed Garfield Logan to stay with his 'blood sister', and as soon as the decision was made, he and M'gann entered the latter's room. They hadn't left it since, and the last checkup on them confirmed that neither were dealing with Marie Logan's death very well.

Kara, meanwhile, had stopped contacting them all together. Either out of sadness or frustration with Connor's constant disobeying of orders, they didn't know what she was doing, but things would have to be dealt with, soon.

* * *

 **A/N so... This was an ordeal to write, and it took me a while, so yeah**

 **Oh, and one more thing, I don't know if people feel like I'm just ignoring their reviews and messages, because I'm not, I'm just a bit unsure if you want me to project your names all over my Author's Notes as a reply.**


	4. Training Program

**A/N Sorry that this one came out a little later, some friends were dealing with some stuff, and then I got distracted by E3, but we're back now!**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Mount Justice  
** **March 2, 08:40 EST**

In the days since the discovery of Marie Logan's tragic death and Garfield Logan's moving into the cave, things had been a bit morose. M'gann was still upset, and Kara was still mad at Connor for repeatedly disregarding her orders. She was seriously considering suspending him again, this time for real.

The only good thing that had come out of it all was that Garfield had finally emerged from his room.

Kara had a day off, and was sparring with Aqualad. The rest were all on missions, or at school, and Garfield was watching the fight between Kara and Kaldur in awe. At the very least. They could distract him for a few minutes from his mother's passing.

They were interrupted by the sound of the zeta-tube entrances whirring to life.

"Recognised: Aquaman 0-6"

Kaldur stopped what he was doing and immediately went over to salute his mentor as he entered. Behind, Kara instructed Garfield to go back to his room.

"Greetings, my king."

"Uh, hey Aquaman" Kara called out from behind. They were teammates now, but it didn't make it any less weird greeting the Atlantean king like an equal.

"Greetings Kaldur'ahm, and you Supergirl" the man nodded.

"If I may, what brings you here?" Aqualad asked the man.

"It is okay" he held up a hand to his former sidekick "foremost, I am here to... check in on my protégé.

"With all due respect my king, that is not necessary" Aqualad replied.

"Yes, but it is also not the _only_ reason I am here" he turned to the console beside him, and hit several holographic keys.

"Access Granted: Garth A0-1, Tula A0-2. Authorisation: Aquaman 0-6"

Two teens around Kaldur's age stepped out of the zeta-tubes and beside Aquaman.

The boy looked around the cave, impressed, and the girl looked at Kaldur in a strange mixture of sadness and happiness.

"Garth and Tula wished to visit the surface world, and maybe even stay as a teammate of yours" he placed his hands on the shoulders of the two.

"Wait, you wish to _remain_ on the surface?" Kaldur's eyes widened.

"Maybe" the boy, Garth, replied "now that we have finished our studies under Queen Mera, we wished to see what _you_ do on the surface" he explained.

"I'm afraid I must take my leave, so I will entrust them to you both" Aquaman cut in, and zeta'd out of the cave.

"Well, if you're gonna join the team, then we need to see how well you can fight" Kara decided, ignoring the apprehensive face Kaldur was making, and leading them over to the sparring circle.

"You know we are trained for combat, right?" Garth asked her incredulously.

"Yeah, in Atlantis, but things are different above the ocean, and you've never faced a Kryptonian."

She turned to face them, and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Garth and Tula looked at each other, and the latter shrugged "after you" she said.

Garth rolled his eyes, but maintained a smile, and stepped over to Kara, dropping into a combat stance.

Making the first move, he lunged at her, but continued forward, stumbling a little when she suddenly wasn't there.

"On this team you'll face a lot of different people with powers, one of them is inhuman speeds."

He grunted, and spun around on her, lifting his leg up. His foot impacted her face with a solid smack, but she didn't even flinch. Grabbing the foot that had yet to land, she flipped him over her head, and onto his back.

Tula burst into a fit of giggles on the sidelines.

"Another, is near-indestructibility."

He growled low, and shot back up to his feet. The Atlantean boy then threw a hard punch at her mid-section, which was caught with ease, and the blonde tossed him into the air.

"Incredible strength is common too" she told him as he flew, and as he fell back to the ground, she fired a pair of low-energy lasers into him. Enough to burn, but not permanently.

He grabbed the spot she had fried at the same time as his lower-back, which he had landed on quite hard.

"Also, many of them will have the power to manipulate energy and matter in different ways."

He jumped at her again, and this time, she stepped to the side, grabbed his ankle, and flew up into the air, dangling him high over the ground "my personal favourite is flight" she smirked, and dropped him back to the ground.

Tula tried to hide her snickers behind a hand, and Aqualad even seemed to chuckle as Kara lifted the other Alantean off the ground once she landed.

"Wait until we fight for real, because Atlantean combat training can only get you so far, but I bet you've never seen Amazonian, Apokaliptan, or Kryptonian styles, have you?"

"No, we haven't" Tula smiled "but, it _does_ seem like something worth learning."

"Well if you're ready to learn..." Kara trailed off, and turned to fully face the Atlantean girl, whose smile dropped.

A beeping from a small spot in Kara's belt interrupted, and the blonde stepped away, placing a hand to her earpiece.

"Supergirl here" she announced.

"Kara-" Black Canary's voice came over. She was obviously on monitor duty "-where are you right now, and what are you doing?"

"Uh, I'm at the cave, and training?" She frowned.

"Good, an alert came through a few minutes ago-" the other woman was interrupted by a drawn out groan.

"You know I'm not-"

"Yes Kara, I do know, but this is a small alert, I'm not even sure why it came to us" they were both silent, and Kara relented.

"Fine, what is it?"

"Thank you. It's a few miles west of Happy Harbour, a burglary. The police there think the suspect is a meta-human, so..."

"Alright, I'll deal with it..." Her eyes wandered to the three Atlanteans speaking nearby "...on one condition."

"Which would be?" Kara didn't need enhanced vision to see Black Canary's raised eyebrow.

"I have some of the team here, I want to bring them. Consider it a... training program."

Canary then sighed "fine" and cut communications.

"Change of plans" Kara called out, walking back over to the others "we're going on a trip."

"We are?" Aqualad looked at her, surprised.

"Yes, we are, an official Justice League sanctioned mission" she smiled "let's go" she led hem towards the hangar.

They followed her silently.

"Tornado, you there?" she called as she walked.

The android flew down from his room as response.

"We're going out on a mission, make sure Garfield behaves?"

Tornado nodded, and Kara resumed leading the Atlantean trio to the hangar.

When they reached the spacious area, inside which both Tula and Garth looked around in awe, Kara was relieved to see that the Bio-ship was out of it's resting position. It wouldn't help if the only way to transport three non-flying people in relative speed and ease were inaccessible, and the only person who could 'wake' it was at cheerleading practice.

"Kaldur" she nudged him as his two old friends continued to stare at the ship "think you can pilot it?'

"I believe so, yes" he confirmed.

Kara nodded, and led them onto the ship. Inside, Kaldur took a seat in the pilot's seat, and Kara sat down directly in front of him, while Garth and Tula hesitantly sat down on either side of her.

"This is the Bio-ship, our primary mode of transportation" Kaldur explained.

"You own a ship?" Tula asked him, surprised.

"No, it is M'gann's" he corrected.

"You'll meet the rest of the team eventually" Kara told them "but there are a few... quirks you'll have to get used to."

"Like what?" Kara didn't answer Garth.

 **Lucky's Gas Station, Rhode Island  
** **March 2, 09:10 EST**

The arrived on the scene of a remote gas station, surrounded on all sides by police cars and officers. Between the police and the gas station, black scorch marks painted the ground, contrasting the large spines of ice sprouting from the windows of the station.

Kaldur landed the Bio-ship on the ground outside the ring of police cars, and the four of them exited to face the daunting gas station turned ice fortress.

Kara narrowed her eyes, and used her x-ray vision to look past the ice covering every glass surface. Inside, a large man in thick fur seemed to be arguing with a smaller woman in leather.

"There're two of them" she explained, "one's a man, he's big, wearing mostly blues, and a lot of fur."

"Maybe he wears fur to stay warm" Tula suggested.

"Which would mean he's probably responsible for the ice" Garth agreed

"But ice doesn't leave scorch marks like that" Kaldur frowned, gesturing at the black markings all over the ground outside the station.

"Well, the second suspect is a woman, she's wearing lots of red and black, most of it is leather" Kara shrugged.

"A leather does not burn easy" Kaldur continued.

"So she's our pyrokinetic" Kara frowned, "what do you think?" She asked her old leader.

"We should split up " Kaldur decided "if we all attack them both at once, you would likely be left alone."

"Agreed, so I'll take Garth-"

"What?" They all chorused.

"You heard me, I'll take Garth, and we'll take on the woman, while you two take on the cryokinetic" Kara ordered.

Not allowing them any chance to argue, Kara began to march over to the police surrounding the gas station, an increasingly familiar sight, and found the officer in charge.

"Hello, officer?" The older man turned around to face her "I'm going to make this simple, me and my team can stop whoever is in there, but we need water, lot's of water."

The officer stared at her for a moment, before picking up a radio "you there?" He asked "yeah, I need firetrucks, the more, the better."

Within minutes, three firetrucks had arrived on the scene, and the emergency personal present had been informed of Kara's plan.

She stood several metres away from the iced over front doors of the gas station, with Tula, Garth, and Aqualad behind her.

"Review plan?"

Kaldur spoke first "you will break the ice barring our entry into the station-"

"-then you and I will attack the pyrokinetic woman, and move her out of the building, away from everyone else-" Garth continued.

"-meanwhile, Kaldur and I will try to stop the cryokinetic" Tula finished.

"I guess we're all ready then" Kara decided.

She fired up her heat-vision, and began to melt away the ice around the door.

Inside, the two figures stopped whatever they were doing, and turned to the door. The man looked calm and collected, but the woman's face began to turn red from anger.

She smacked a hand into her stoic partner's chest, and seemed to demand he do something.

The man stepped backwards, and the woman blasted the doors open with one massive burst of fire, startling the surrounding officers, Garth, and Tula.

"Time to-" she began to summon a large ball of fire above her head, and a wild smirk broke out across her face, when she was interrupted by Kara surging forward faster than a blink.

The blonde hit the pyrokinetic in the mid-section, and spear-tackled her through the gas station, and through the wall at the rear of the building, with Garth following at a run.

The cryokinetic also seemed floored by this, and so was distracted when Aqualad summoned the water from one of the firetrucks, and morphed it into a battering ram of sorts.

When the cryokinetic realised what was happening, he was already being blasted through a side wall, into the ground outside, while Aqualad and Tula followed.

Behind the store, Kara and Garth stood, facing off with the woman who had now recovered from Kara's initial attack.

"What's your name?" The blonde suddenly asked.

"Why?" The woman frowned, flicking lone black hair out of her eyes.

"So the police know what to document you as once I've beaten you unconscious."

Both woman glared at each other, until the pyrokinetic relented "Pyra" she stated " _that's_ what you'll screaming when I burn my name into your _flesh"_ she fired a jet of flame at them both to punctuate, and the two heroes split.

Pyra also split her jet into two smaller beams, one focusing on Kara who seemed unperturbed, and one on Garth, who had quickly summoned the water from the second firetruck to act as a shield.

Aqualad, meanwhile, had turned a great deal of his water into a large shield, and was in the middle of a test if strength with the cryokinetic who had fashioned a similar shield, made of ice.

"May I... At least... Know... Your name?" Aqualad grunted.

"Cryo" the man growled back, and gave one last mighty push, throwing Kaldur off balance.

Cryo turned his shield into an axe, and lifted it above his head, about to bring it down on Kaldur's neck, when another battering ram of water knocked him out of the way, this time controlled by Tula.

Cryo stumbled back to his feet, and gave a grunt of frustration.

Aqualad also stood, and readied himself beside his old friend.

"Kaldur" Tula suddenly spoke.

"Yes?" the boy replied, already running at Cryo with a sword made from his water-bearers ready.

The Atlantean boy leapt into the air, and brought the water-blade down on Cryo, who quickly deflected the blow with an ice-shield

"We need to talk" Tula said as she too ran forwards. Not possessing water-bearers like Kaldur, she simply fashioned some of the water into long cord, and wrapped it around Cryo.

"About?" Kaldur asked, reading himself once more as Cryo formed a pair of ice-knives, and began to try slashing through his watery bonds.

"Garth!" Tula yelled, mostly in panic as the cryokinetic before them broke from his temporary prison, and dove toward her.

"Tula, now is most certainly not the time!" Kaldur admonished. He morphed his swords into a large hammer, and smashed Cryo in the side, throwing him away from Tula

"I know!" Tula yelled back while morphing a heal of water into a large serpent of sorts, "I just don't want things to be weird between us!"

Kaldur didn't answer, he only ran at Cryo, who was seemingly distracted by the water-snake attacking him at the moment.

Aqualad threw his water-hammer to the side, about to bring it into Cryo's ribs, but was knocked away when the cryokinetic swung his own hammer made of ice into the teen's head, sending him flying, and rolling along the ground.

"Kaldur!" Tula yelled, dropping control over her water snake, and Cryo took advantage.

The large man sprinted at the still distracted girl, and smashed his ice-hammer into her gut, knocking her down.

He then reshaped it into an axe, and hefted it above his head.

Several metres away, Kaldur stirred and sat up, turning to look at the two.

Seeing Cryo about to harm his childhood friend and secret love, Kaldur jumped to his feet, and sprinted ahead without thought.

He lifted a water-hammer above his head, and electrified the water.

Kaldur brought the hammer down on Cryo's head, who spasmed and shook wildly from the electricity now coursing throuh him, until he flopped over, unconscious.

Kaldur reached down, and pulled Tula up.

When she stood, they were face to face, and both looked away from each other after a moment, with Kaldur making sure to take a few steps backwards.

Around him, the dome of water began to dissipate from Pyra's attacks, and Garth had to think quick, lest the woman's relentless attacks burn him.

Suddenly, the fire stopped, and he dropped the dome to see Kara now directing all of Pyra's attention.

To capitalise, Garth morphed the water into the shape of a large shark, and sent it barreling toward Pyra, who didn't have enough time to avoid the blow.

She was sent skidding along the ground from the impact, and snarled at Garth as the shark fell apart.

Pyra stood, and glared at the teen, who summoned some of the water back to him, and began to swirl it in the air above his head. Pyra, meanwhile, quickly built up a ball of flame in her arms, and released it, smirking as the fire sped directly at Garth.

Kara grabbed Garth by the collar of his clothing, and threw him to side just as the fireball Pyra threw went through his former position, and harmlessly into the invulnerable Supergirl.

Letting out twin grunts of frustration, Kara and Pyra lunged at one another, and locked hands in a power struggle.

The pyronkietic woman was stronger than she looked, but Kara was still stronger, and began to push her opponent back when she felt her palms heat up.

Pyra was generating fire even when her hands were covered, and by this point had superheated their joint hands to the point where the heat actually began to bother the Kryptonian.

Kara released her grip on the other woman's hands, and the two jumped back from each other, smoke rising from their palms. Above, grey clouds and brief flashes of lighting could be seen as a storm brewed.

Beside her, Garth looked up, and seemed to realise something. Morphing the water into a large pedestal for himself, Garth rose above high the ground.

"I summon the power of the tempest!" He yelled.

Water and air began to swirl around him in some kind of typhoon, and electricity began to crackle in his hands and along his arms.

Pyra lifted her palms to face the teen, about to attack, and Kara lunged, tackling the pyrokinetic to the ground.

Pyra tried to burn Kara again, but the Kryptonian pinned her arms down forcing the fiery attacks to sail harmlessly upward, until the whipping wind put them out.

Pyra pulled her knees up to her chest, and kicked Kara away.

Both women stood up, and readied themselves to attack, when water surged forth from Garth's hands, and encased Pyra, before freezing solid.

Kara was taken aback from the sudden attack, and looked over at Garth as he dropped back to the ground, and forced the storm to recede.

Inside her icy prison, Pyra still sported a vicious frown

Kara walked over to Garth, and smacked hum on the shoulder, "good work Tempest" she smiled.

"Tempest?"

"Well, that's what you shouted back there" she reasoned "actually, that's a pretty good name."

Tula and Aqualad walked back over to them from where they had knocked Cryo unconscious.

"Garth, that was amazing!" The girl leapt into his arms, and they embraced. Out the corner of her eye, Kara noticed Aqualad look away.

"Ahem" she cleared her throat "So, still want to join the team?"

They shared an exited look.

* * *

 **A/N, meh, not one of my best, but what the hell.**


	5. Anger

**Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Pacific Ocean  
** **March 5, 20:02**

This was a major issue, a _really_ major issue.

The team was on their way to a small unnamed island in the middle of the Pacific. Technically, the island was Japanese land, but the world had just about forgotten it existed.

Batman had sent them, specifically Kara, on a mission to investigate two more radiation patterns much like the one that the Metallo Unit had made when it landed in Antarctica. This time, Aqualad and his two Atlantean friends were going with them, as were Connor and Kid Flash. Tensions were understandably high.

However, if Batman and Supergirl's suspicions were correct, then something out there was purposefully transporting kryptonite, and reconstructed Metallo Units to Earth, which was _not_ good.

One major thing that had happened in the last three days, however, was that garth and Tula had taken superhero identities for themselves.

Garth, following the suggestion of Kara, was now known as Tempest, while Tula, ignoring how clearly awkward it made Kaldur feel, simply went by Aquagirl. Kara had then jokingly commented that now they only needed a _Bat_ girl and a _Wonder_ girl, maybe even some kind of female Flash.

"There it is" Kaldur broke the silence. Indeed, a large landmass had just appeared on the horizon, and the ship was speeding towards it smoothly.

The island now within sight, Kara stood and narrowed her eyes to gain a closer look at it. It was oval shaped, spanning east to west at it widest, and small enough that she could just make out the furthest end of the coast of the island.

While it was outlined with clear white sand all around, the inner area of the island was thick with jungle, and seemed to slope slightly, the north being higher, before sloping back down to meet the water.

Towards the east, the end closest to them, two large metal pods jutted out of the ground a short ways into the jungle, emitting a faint green glow.

Kaldur, once again piloting the Bio-ship while M'gann was elsewhere, landed in a small clearing near the east-most shore of the island.

All six heroes stepped out of the ship, and Kara halted them before anybody could pass the line of trees, where just beyond, the two pods stood.

"Connor and I will go first, if there're Metallo Units inside, we can take the most hits."

The nodded and allowed a frowning Superboy to reluctantly rake point alongside his cousin.

Slowly, they crept over to the pods, until about a metre away, Kara threw her hand up to halt them. She peeked over her shoulder to meet Aqualad's eyes, who nodded and ordered Aquagirl and Tempest to summon some of the nearby water as weapons.

Kara and Connor, meanwhile, resumed their slow walk over to the pods.

Now next to a single pod each, both Kryptonians jammed their hands into the gap between the pod's door, and body.

"On three" Kara whispered to her cousin "one-"

Completely disregarding her order, Connor ripped the door off it's position, and came face to face with a powered down Metallo. As soon as the clone tossed the door he was holding to the side, the Metallo's eyes shot open, glowing a bright red, and it's let out a distorted squeal.

Still beside the second pod, the Metallo Unit inside responded, and before Kara could react, it had thrown open it's door, blasting the girl away from itself.

The first Metallo shot at Connor, and sent a heavy punch towards the clone's face, which whipped to the side from the blow.

The Metallo went for another attack, but a long stream of water whipped around it's arm, and tugged the limb away from Connor, forcing it to strike at empty space.

Hoping to capitalise on this, Connor lunged right at the semi-restrained android, and tried to tackle it by the mid-section.

But the larger android didn't budge, and still had one arm spare. It wrapped it's unhindered arm

around the clone, and span around, letting go so it could fling Connor into a tree. As it span, the arm Tula had been holding back pulled her too, and she lost her footing, beginning to move towards the Metallo.

Garth noticed this attack, and immediately sprang into action, hoping to save his girlfriend from the Metallo. He moved away from his own clash with the second Metallo, and created a water-leash to hold her down.

However, beforehand he had been aiding Kaldur, the two using a pair of water shields to restrain the second Metallo Unit, while Kid sped around them, trying to find openings for attacks of his own.

With one of it's main enemies now abandoning the fight, it had once again gained the upper hand.

While Kaldur was busy pushing against one arm, he didn't notice the second take a wide swing at him, catching Kid by the chest on it's way. The speedster flipped in the air, and landed on the ground with a thud, while the Metallo's fist connected with Kaldur's side, and sent him flying away from its, into a tree.

The first Metallo, meanwhile, still had a hold on Tula's water whip, and was in the middle of a tug 'o' war with Garth, who had yet to release his hold on Tula.

The girl, hoping her own strength combined with Garth's help could overcome the Metallo, stubbornly maintaining her leash on the android's thick arm.

In a move neither had anticipated, the Metallo threw an arm out to grab the door of his pod, which was lying just a short ways away from him, and somehow detached it's arm. With the sudden relaxing of tension, the Atlantean couple fell to ground, tangled up in each other, while the Metallo picked up his former door and lifted it like a weapon.

Connor stood back up from his place on the ground, and looked past Garth and Tula's fight with the first Metallo, to where Kaldur was struggling with the second.

He gave a short grunt, and launched himself off the tree at it.

The Metallo, not expecting Connor's attack as it stared down at the speedster it had just taken down, lurched sideways, the Kryptonian clone pushing on it with as mush force he could muster.

Fighting back, the Metallo threw his arms under Connor, and tried to pull him up. The two were now stuck in an awkward power struggle, where Connor focused most of his strength on keeping himself ground, while also trying to fell the large android, and his opponent trying not to lose itms own footing, and heft the clone up.

Needing a new approach to deal with this new enemy, the Metallo suddenly relaxed all of it's efforts, and instead span itself around Connor, who stumbled forward from the sudden loss of opposing force.

Now slightly behind the clone, the Metallo grabbed him by the back of his shirt, and tugged him so his back bridged, and he was forced to stare directly up at the Metallo's eyes.

The android lifted it's other hand, and brought it down into the clone's gut, then it swept his legs out, and finally, span around again, and whipped him into the open pod beside.

As the Metallo dealt with Connor, Kid had also managed to stand up, and too ignored his first enemy for the second.

He could see the first Metallo raise the door of it's pod, the large chamber that likely held a chunk of kryptonite, similar to that in the pod they found in Antarctica, aimed at Garth and Tula's prone heads.

He acted immediately, and sprinted at the android. As he approached, Kid stepped on a log that lay nearby, and used it to launch himself off of, and right into the Metallo's face. The redhead clung onto the android for dear life as it flailed and thrashed.

Looking up to see what was happening, Garth and Tula made sure to move away so they could regroup, while Kid held off the android in his own way.

The Metallo let go of it's makeshift weapon with one hand, and ripped the speedster off it, throwing him away.

Fortunately, Kid landed on his feet, and skidded backwards a short ways, before rushing the Metallo once more.

It swung it's door out at him, with the intention of it smashing him away, but instead met empty air, and soon felt Kid climbing onto it's back.

The redhead climbed the tall android's frame, gripping on tight as it flailed and attempted to tear him off once more.

Reaching the Metallo Unit's head, he tried to jab his fingers into anywhere he could, hoping to find some kind of important wiring or joint.

Reaching both arms behind it's back, the Metallo dropped itms door weapon, and grabbed hold of Kid's sides. It tore the speedster ofd of itself, and threw him forward, over it's own head, then turned to pick it's weapon up again.

Kid span himself in the air as he flew, and once he landed, again on both feet, he skidded along the ground to a stop just before he tripped over a log on the ground, then turned, and sprinted at the Metallo again while it's back was turned.

As he neared, the android snapped to attention, and swung the large metal door again, this time connecting with it's target. Kid was sent through the air, and into a tree, where he dropped to the ground unconscious

As this went on, Kara finally recovered from the initial attack that had surprised her into incapacitation, and set her eyes on the Metallo pinning her cousin into it's own pod by his neck.

With a grunt of mixed exasperation and anger, she launched herself in it's direction. However, she had not considered the possibility of the Metallo Units having greater perception of their surroundings, and she was quickly caught by the android's other hand.

It gripped her neck tight, and then slammed her into the pod beside her cousin, both Kryptonians squished together in the small space.

Finally, it grabbed the entire thing, and smashed it into the ground hard enough for it to actually pierce the dirt a small amount, incapacitating the two Supers for the time being.

The other Metallo, meanwhile, turned from it's work where Kid lay slumped against the tree he had been thrown into, and faced off against the Atlanteans, two of which were already quite bruised and beaten, and the third who was nursing her left arm.

Acting first, both Garth and Kaldur morphed some water into a pair of swords, and leapt at it.

The android threw it's thick arm up to allow their liquid-blades to penetrate it, but not deal any major amounts of damage. With the bots now at it's mercy, dangling from their weapons embedded in it's metal shell, the Metallo slammed them up against a tree over and over, until their grips slacked, and the water holding them to the android went back to liquid state.

The Metallo took a moment to stare down at them, until a third water-weapon wrapped itself around it's other arm.

Following the water-whip, the Metallo looked up to see Aquagirl holding onto the other end. Using her Atlantean sorcery, she then electrocuted the water, hoping that the large volts of electricity would incapacitate it.

But the Metallo was not so easily defeated, and with one mighty tug of the arm, she came flying through the air, right into the android's waiting fist.

The android allowed Tula's beaten body to drop to the ground, and turned to face it's companion. They seemed to nod, and reached down, picked up the doors of their pods, and marched away from the scene, heading further west into the thick jungle, until they could no longer be seen through the density of the foliage.

Tula then stood back up, grimacing at the pain, and helped up the two Atlantean boys. Nearby, the pod that both Supers had been shoved into suddenly rocketed into the air, and came crashing back down further away.

Kara stood, and stormed away from her cousin, stopping to look out at the thick jungle where the Metallo Units had disappeared from, while Connor sat up, and started grumbling to himself, looking away, off at nothing.

Kaldur stepped over to where Kara was surveying the jungle before them.

"Do you have a plan?" He asked her.

She nodded distractedly, "I think we should split into two squads again" Kara suggested "I can take Kid and Aquagirl, while you take Tempest and Superboy, we'll circle the island, and meet up at the other end, hopefully with the Metallo Units.

"Yeah, _that's_ a good idea" Connor mumbled from behind them.

"Excuse me?" Kara glared at her cousin.

"I think we should stick together, or better yet, let me handle the Metallo Units on my own" he said "I took out the last one we fought, and I can do it again."

Kara sighed in frustration "No. If you want to go around picking fights with enemies twice your size and strength, do it on your own time."

"I would, but I'm afraid you'll just be there criticising me" he grumbled.

"Can't you at least _pretend_ to be a team player for _one mission?"_ Kara glared.

Connor grunted, and turned away from her, scanning the thick jungle for any sign of their escaped androids.

"In any case, we will go with Supergirl's plan" Aqualad spoke up, taking control of the situation from an exasperated Kara "Tempest, Superboy and I will take the south-most path, while the rest of you will go north."

They nodded, and split up, marching off in their assigned direction.

Along the northern trail, Kara had taken point, tearing off low-hanging tree branches, and kicking logs or rocks along their path to pieces with far more aggression than necessary.

A scowl was cemented on her face, and every now and then, the two following her could make out a mumbled complaint or insult against her half-cousin.

"Are they _always_ like this?" Tula whisper-asked the speedster beside her.

"Not really, they used to be really close" he whispered back.

"But why are they fighting?"

"I don't know, none of us do, it's only gotten this bad in the last couple of months"

"You know-" Kara interrupted their whisper conversation "-I can hear every word" she glared at them over her shoulder.

Both redheads flushed, and looked away from her awkwardly.

On the southern path, Connor was instead trailing behind the two Atlantean boys quite a distance, glowering and grumbling to himself along the way.

Hoping to ignore the conflict for the time being, Garth tried to engage his old friend in conversation.

"So Kaldur, this is what life is like on the surface?"

"Yes, it is quite different from Atlantis, isn't it?"

Garth nodded, and then frowned slightly "you know we have to talk"

Kaldur knew what he meant, but asked him to explain anyway.

"About... Tula" Garth told him. It was clear the other teen still felt something for the girl, but Garth didn't want that to ruin their friendship.

"Please Garth, now is not an appropriate time to discuss this" the darker teen denied.

"Then when _will_ be appropriate?"

Kaldur didn't answer him.

Back towards the north, Kara had now fallen back into step between Tula and Wally, and was ranting about her half-cousin, while the two awkwardly listened.

"-and that deal with him going to Cadmus on Thanksgiving last year? Why couldn't he just _talk_ to me? I've been there for him ever since we thawed out his ungrateful butt, right?" She looked at Wally on her left.

"Well, I guess-" the blonde interrupted him.

"Plus there was that failed training session that M'gann accidentally ruined, Did he show even an _ounce_ of care that I was going to let myself die? No, he did not, and sure he may have been going through some stuff at the time with Superman, but again, he never just _talked_ to me."

"Uh, maybe he-" this time, Tula was cut off.

"Oh, and let's not forget the coup de grace, which is his _completely_ jerky behaviour these last couple of months, and how he-" this time she stopped herself, and threw her arms out to stop her travelling companions.

Narrowing her eyes, she could the two Metallo Units through the thick trees, utilising her enhanced sight for a bit of help. They had removed the kryptonite from the door chambers, and seemed to be fiddling with the power sources inside their chest cavities.

Placing a hand to her comms, Kara whispered, "Aqualad, we've just found the Metallo Units"

 _"Copy, so have we, awaiting your command."_

"Well, they clearly have kryptonite, so how do you propose we deal with that?"

 _"You and Superboy should stay back, allow us to engage the targets, and secure the kryptonite."_

"Good plan, We'll attack on your signal"

She then cut communication, and turned to her companions.

"The Metallo Units are up ahead, and they have kryptonite. Superboy and I will stay back, let the rest of you deal with them, sound good?"

"Got it" they both nodded.

"Okay, we'll go on Aqualad's-" she was cut off by a distant roar, and looking back at the Metallos, she could see her cousin leaping out of the trees to attack them, both Atlantean boys following.

Kara swore under her breath in some other language, and quickly led her squad out to join the attack.

Immediately, Connor jumped in to attack the first Metallo Unit with his bare hands. The clone shot from amongst the trees, and collided with the android with a very loud clanging noise, forcing it to drop the chunk of kryptonite it was carrying.

The second Metallo seemed ready to help it's companion, and subdue Connor with it's own piece of kryptonite, but was stopped when a yellow-red blur flashed by, and snatched the rock away.

"Mine now!' Kid yelled behind him while the Metallo looked on helplessly.

Intending to capitalise on the android's confusion, Tula also moved to attack the second Metallo Unit by manipulating a large amount of water into a forming a series of chains, binding the Metallo's arms and torso together.

Deciding to help her, both Kaldur and Garth did the same using their own powers, and soon the android was cocooned in water-chains.

The first Metallo, meanwhile, had finally managed to fight back against Connor, and was slowly pushing him back, right in the direction of the large piece of kryptonite lying in the middle of the battle.

Reluctantly, Kara decided to help her cousin, and did so by flying over to the Metallo, and punching it in the side of the head with as much force as she could. The android stumbled sideways a little, but recovered quickly. Kara wound up her fist for a second hit, but when she flung herself forward, all she met was the air, as Connor had pushed the Metallo out of the way so he could attack it himself. Noting this, Kara huffed, and flew over to continue helping.

Kid, meanwhile, had also sprinted by the second piece of kryptonite, and had even stopped to pick up one of the Metallo doors.

He was just sprinting past the Metallo wrapped in the Atlantean water-chains towards the second door, when it's freed foot shot out and tripped him.

Wally began to fall forwards, but his prior speed had him now shooting forward, both onto his face, and into Tula, who he smashed into quite forcefully, and knocked her off her feet.

Seeing the girl fall to the ground, Garth immediately dropped his own chains to rush over and help her, once again leaving Aqualad to deal with the Metallo Unit alone.

Now only hindered by one set of chains, the Metallo easily broke it's bindings, and lunged at Kaldur.

Superboy and the Metallo Unit finally separated, and began to circle each other. The android wasn't even acknowledging Kara's presence, which she intended to use.

As Connor faced down the android, and the android faced down Connor, a sudden blur of red, blue and gold impacted the side of the Metallo Unit, and bowled it over.

Kara pinned the android down, and began pummelling it's metal face, sending punch after punch, the casing around it's head beginning to bend and give way to her fists.

The second Metallo surged toward Kaldur as the watery chains shattered, and grabbed him by his shoulders. Face to face with the young Atlantean, the Metallo Unit gave a shrill cry, and then drilled it's knee into his gut.

Kaldur doubled over from the impact, letting loose a grunt of mixed surprise and pain, which attracted the attention of Kid, who had stood from his earlier crash with Tula.

He picked up the chunks of kryptonite, it would obviously be a good idea to keep the rocks away from the androids, and sprinted towards the Metallo who was now about to bring it's hands down onto his bent-over back.

As Kid neared, he launched himself off the ground, and onto the Metallo Unit's own back, and began to bash a hunk of kryptonite into it's head.

While the android flailed and tried to tear Kid off it's back, Kaldur stood again and moved forward himself.

Superboy moved over to where his cousin was slowly crushing the head of her helpless victim, and tore her off the android so he could attack it in his own way.

Feeling herself being thrown away, and seeing Connor begin to pick up where Kara had left off, she growled low, until she noticed Kid and Aqualad struggling against the second Metallo Unit.

She sped away from her cousin, passing both Tempest and Aquagirl who were now moving to where Kara had abandoned her previous fight, and engaged her new target.

She grabbed Kid by his legs, unknowing of the kryptonite he was holding, and crumpled to the ground with a loud cry as soon as the rocks came near her.

Kid, panicked on what to do, shot away from the girl, but the Metallo had already taken interest in her, and was just about to attack, when Aqualad finally struck.

He morphed the water nearby into a pair of short, wide swords, and jumoed onto the android back, digging the blades into it's back.

The Metallo Unit gave off a shrill cry, and stumbled backwards, into a tree.

It then repeatedly began smashing itself into the tree, hoping to dislodge the thing on it's back, and remove the strange pain-like feeling from it's back.

Eventually, Kaldur couldn't hold his grip on the blades any longer, and dropped to the ground, allowing his swords to dissipate back into liquid.

Kid, now free of the kryptonite hew had been carrying, sprinted back over to Kara, hoping to check on the damage he had accidentally and unwittingly caused, when suddenly, he felt his legs get swept out from under him. The Metallo Unit had grabbed him by his ankles, and started spinning around, the force of the motion beginning to level him out, until the speedster was horizontally parallel with the ground.

The Metallo let go of Kid, who was sent flying through the air, and into yet another tree, hitting it awkwardly with his side.

Seeing that the android now had it's back to her, Kara stood back up, and went to grab onto it's shoulders, but felt someone grip onto her cape, and tug her away.

As she landed on her rear from the shock of the 'attack', she noticed that it had been Connor who pulled the blonde off her target so he could instead land a set of punches on the android.

And that was the straw the broke the proverbial camel's back.

Just as Connor went to throw another punch at the Metallo Unit's head, Kara grabbed him by the arm, and tossed him over her shoulder.

The rest of the team continued to deal with the Metallo Units, struggling without the aid of their heaviest hitters, while Kara and Connor rounded on each other.

"What do you think you're doing?" kara demanded, clearly referencing his attempts to undermine her authority and attacks.

"I'm _trying_ to be a 'team player'" Connor agued, mocking her earlier words as he stood back up.

"No, you're _trying_ to disobey orders" kara glared.

"Well maybe if you actually came up with some good ones" he glared back.

"I don't see _you_ coming up with any plans."

"I came up with a plan, and you told me where to put it!"

"Taking on two androids strong enough to almost wipe out entire Kryptonian populations alone is _not_ a sound plan."

"Then what is it?"

"It's a stupid child overstepping his boundaries, and overestimating himself!"

"I know my boundaries!"

"Clearly not, or you wouldn't have volunteered yourself for a _suicide_ mission."

"Not like you'd care if I did!"

"Right now, I wouldn't, but I _also_ don't want to have to deal with M'gann's grieving, while trying to explain to her that she chose to date a moron!"

"You leave M'gann out of this!"

"I will when you get your head out of the clouds and realise just how impudent you're being!"

"I show respect where it's deserved!"

"Are you kidding me!?" Kara roared incredulously "ever since I was inducted into the League, you've done _nothing_ but disrespect and disobey me!"

"I don't _need_ to respect you, you don't even respect me!" Connor roared right back at her.

"Of course I don't, because I don't respect insubordinate freaks of nature!"

"And _I_ don't respect self-important aliens who cause more damage than they fix!"

The cousins let out simultaneous roars of anger, and turned to the Metallo Units just as they reached out to perform a joint attack.

Both Kryptonians sent their fist into the heads of the machines, and tore them off, crushing them into balls of metal and wiring.

The bodies of the Metallo Units collapsed, and the team gingerly limped or staggered over to the sight of the fuming Kryptonians.

Giving one look to her old team, Kara shot into the air, and rocketed away from the island, heading further west.

Connor, meanwhile, silently but angrily stormed back towards the Bio-ship, leaving the team to collect the Metallo Unit carcasses.

"Well, at least I'm not being sent keep an eye on him" Wally shrugged.

Kaldur gave him a pointed look, and the speedster groaned, before running after the angry clone so he could make sure they still _had_ a Bio-ship.


	6. Decisions

**A/N, yay, a twofer, just for waiting so long and (hopefully) patiently for an update.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Hollywood, Los Angeles  
** **March 7, 12:32 PST**

Kara didn't know what was so appealing to people about this place, it was just a big sign on a mountain, one she learnt had actually needed severe restoration in the late 70's.

But then, maybe the blonde was just nitpicking at details to criticise due to her bad mood.

Ever since the mission two days prior, Kara had been in an absolutely foul mood, and refused to return to Metropolis or Happy Harbour, so instead she spent some time in Japan and China, then moved up to Eastern Russia, then Alaska, the next day she spent a while in Canada, and finally found herself on America's east coast.

She stood atop the large H of the sign, watching the district below her, silently fuming at her half-cousin's disrespectful actions.

Why was he acting so petulant? She wondered. Why was Connor being such a child.

The blonde dropped from the sign, down to the ground, and started walking, lost in her thoughts. Back when Kal still didn't accept him, Kara was all the clone had, she was his only family, and she was there for him, so why did he suddenly seem so ungrateful now?

After a short while of just walking a thinking, she ended up walking through a busy street. As she passed, men and women scowled and swore when she accidentally bumped into them, and men who looked about as old as Pa Kent grinned at her, or rather, grinned at the 'S' on her chest.

A siren in the distance stopped Kara in her place, and her thoughts, leading to a woman on her phone behind the Kryptonian to bump into Kara, and spill her coffee.

Kara ignored the woman's cry of anger, and watched as a series of police cruisers sped past her, down the road.

And that was the distraction she wanted.

Kara turned on her heel and walked back down the way she had come from, again shouldering past the thick crowds, and ignoring the odd angry shout or lecherous look from greasy looking men in suits.

She stopped at a street corner, and turned her ear to the air. Sirens and shouts could be heard to her right. She turned again, and started to walk faster, and faster, knocking into more people, until the crowds became too much, so she simply stepped into the road as a truck barrelled down, and leapt over it, flying towards her destination.

The scene of the crime was in front if an old grey building, bearing no signs or decor, barring the police trucks and cruisers that had barricaded the entire road.

Kara stooped and stood just behind the police barricade, and listened out for what was going on. She picked up murmurs of bombs, and hostages, and that one man was threatening to kill them all.

Kara marched over to where a police officer was barking into a radio at the bomber inside. She stopped beside the officer, and tore the radio from his hand, putting it up to her own mouth.

"If you're in there, and you can hear me, my name is Supergirl, and I'm coming in to talk."

She dropped the radio back into the open hand of the officer, and marched towards the building, ignoring cries of protest from the police behind.

She entered through the large double-doors, throwing them apart without a second thought, and marched through the building's surprisingly large hallways, looking for the bomber inside.

After a short while of searching, she found her man inside a large cylindrical room. On the other side, a balcony overlooked the entire area, it's only access a stairwell that had been collapsed with debris, likely from an earlier bomb. Beside Kara on either side were tall black curtains, and around the wall, a few dozen hostages were lined up, some grouped in twos or threes, with large devices strapped to their torsos, and wide fearful eyes shooting over to the Kryptonian.

On the balcony, a single man stood, his face covered, by a bandana with a scratchy 'A' symbol. He leant on the railing of the balcony and looked down on her.

"Well, we have company, at last."

She took a single step, and the man shot upright, holding his hand out. "Not so fast" in his hand there was a small remote "there's about 10 pounds of plastic explosive strapped to each individual person in this room, and unless I get to walk, it's going off."

She frowned "why? I thought someone like you would _want_ the bombs to go off?"

"No, not like this" he shook his head "it's not right, not _perfect_ yet. Let me walk, or it give this place a fresh coat of red paint."

She was silent, and instead shifted her weight to a position where she could easily kick off and speed over to him, which he noticed "oh no, not this time. See, I _know_ you Supergirl, and I know you can just speed on over and take me down before I know what's happening, which is why I did this," he hit a button on the remote, and the curtains on either side of her dropped to reveal plastic tubes filled with kryptonite. The radiation couldn't reach her, barely, but the threat was real "You cross that threshold onto this room, and I let the rocks go. You try to stop me and save the people, I'll blow the bombs anyway."

He was a nut job, clearly, but one with a clear threat, started making a ticking noise with his mouth, and tilting the outstretched remote back and forth like a pendulum.

"I can't just let you go" Kara finally said, her face portraying no emotion.

"Oh, that's too bad-" his finger began to descend on the detonator, when she called out.

"But-" he froze "-I can't let you kill so many innocent people."

He grinned wildly "so?"

"So, I'm telling you to leave, for now, because I _will_ find you again" she scowled.

The bomber laughed heartily "goodbye Supergirl, may we never meet again." He turned around and left her line of sight. Distantly, she could hear some kind of metal utility door clang as he departed, and the girl shot into action.

Speeding around the room, she attended each and every hostage, carefully ripping the plastic explosive from their bodies, and urging them to leave the building.

After about five minutes of rushing, every hostage had been released, and had escaped, leaving Kara to stand alone in the large room, thinking about how she just let a dangerous terrorist escape.

She knew it was selfish, and probably a bad idea, but she decided now was a good time to leave Hollywood, and finally go back home.

 **New York, New York  
** **March 7, 11:30 EST**

Connor wasn't in the mood for school today, wasn't in the mood for M'gann's cheerleader friends, for Mal and the football players, not even the kids that were halfway decent to him like Wendy and Marvin.

Instead, he decided to ditch school all together, and took a trip to New York. Right now, he was standing on the roof of a diner, ignoring the restaurant owner as she screamed up at the clone to get off his place.

He was watching the city through narrowed eyes, while also inwardly grumbling about his cousin, Kara.

Where did she get off acting like she was better than him? Because she wasn't, they were supposed to be in it together, and instead she's been acting like she hates Connor.

It was annoying, infuriating, that he would try so hard to keep her trust, and the moment he keeps a secret, with good reason, she suddenly doesn't trust him at all.

She was his family, his _only_ family, and it seemed like once her purpose as the only Kryptonian to care about him was up, she decided to forget about how close they had been.

It's not like he never respected her, in fact he used to respect her quite a lot. In the training session that M'gann's emotions had broken, he was the only person to respect her decision to give her life for them, and instead she acted like he wanted her to go.

His thoughts were it interrupted by a distant explosion, and a large cloud of dust a smoke billowing from the city a few blocks south.

He turned to face the location of the smoke, and leapt from the diner roof, landing a few blocks down the road with a smash, before leaping upward again, and again, until he landed on the roof of the building opposite where the bomb had gone off.

Once he arrived on the scene, another bomb went off, blowing a large gap in the side of the opposite building, where fire, smoke and bodies could be seen inside.

The whole tower was riddled with craters going up it's side, and smoke wafted from almost every window in a thick screen.

On the ground below, police and firemen frantically tried to control the situation, sending men inside to stop whoever was bombing the building, and put out fires.

Across the way, five figures dressed in baggy black clothing, hockey masks, and wielding automatic rifles busted through a doorway on the roof.

Immediately, one of them noticed the boy on the opposite roof, and ordered the other four to fire at him.

It was a moment that Connor was thankful to have received his Kryptonian father's toughness, as the clone jumped over the gap between them easily, and landed right amongst the gunmen.

He grabbed the first man to his right by the collar, and slammed a fist into his face. The mask cracked from the impact, and he dropped his gun to grab onto his probably broken nose.

Connor then turned to the next man, this one to his left, and took hold of the barrel of his rifle. The boy tore it put of the goon's hands, and smacked him across the face with it, continuing to smack the rifle across the face of the man next to him, and back again, and back again, after which the two crumpled to the ground.

Connor turned to face the second to last man, grabbed him by the shoulders, and rammed his knee into the goon's gut, and again, and again, and a few more times, before tossing the man's body over his shoulder.

The lat goon, after having watched what happened to his companions, tried to flee the scene, but wasn't fast enough, as Connor shot an arm out to grab onto the back of his shirt to stop him, and tugged him to the ground. The goon was left sprawled out onto his back, and the last thing he saw was Connor's scowling face before a boot came down on his head, knocking him out cold.

Turning back to his previous vantage position, Connor walked over to the edge of the building, and in one swift motion, dropped of the edge in a way so that he might curve in the air, and land inside the newest, largest crater on the building's face with a thud.

Looking around, he found tables had been upturned and riddled with bullets, and both goons with hockey masks and police officers lay around the spacious room, their blood mixing as it coated the floor.

He cautiously crept around the bodies, a light splash sounding every time he stepped in a shallow pool if blood. He kept his eyes on the doorway at the end of the room, until a wheeze caught his attention.

On the ground lay another police officer, clutching his gut tight, with red spilling out over his hand.

Clearly he was unconscious, but alive if the slight rising and falling of his chest was any indication. He had bled a lot, but maybe if Connor was fast, he could move the officer from the building, down to the other officers on the ground, and be back in time to stop the bomber.

The clone was about to attempt such when there was a gasp from the doorway.

Connor's head jerked towards it, and he just caught sigh of another hockey masked goon sprinting away.

That meant Connor only had enough time to stop the bomber _or_ move the officer, who would no doubt join the other men around him if not treated at once.

Connor caught up with man on a higher floor, where he ran into a room, and slammed the door shut behind him.

Connor ran up to the door, and tore it off it's hinges.

He now fond himself face-to-face with about eight other goons, four of which had automatic rifles, a fifth who stood at least a foot above the others, and was built like a freight train, and the last three were unarmed, crouched around a large device on the ground, likely one of the bombs.

Between the eight men stood a single woman, wearing a white pantsuit and quite professional looking in comparison with the men around her, and her face was hidden, not by a hockey mask, but by a black skull mask.

"Is this him?" She asked the man who Connor had followed, one of the four with a rifle. She had a regal english accent, civilised and cultured.

"Yeah, he came in through the hole from bomb seven" the man explained "but look, his chest."

Connor did the same as everyone else in the room, and looked down at the 'S' on his shirt.

"Well, a super-fan are we? Or maybe a young vigilante hoping to honour his hero's name, hm?" The woman pulled a gun from inside her blazer.

"No ma'am, that bomb went off on the twelfth floor, there ain't no _way_ he made it up here, unless he's the real deal.

The woman scoffed "he can't be the real deal you moron, there's only _one_ Super, and he wears a big red cape." She stopped for a "well, I think there's also some little blonde number, but this one isn't exactly _pretty_ enough to pass for a girl."

"Look, I know all that, but he _has_ to be-" the man was cut off when she pointed her gun at his head and pulled the trigger without a second thought.

"Insubordination, my pet peeve, right?" She looked up at the big goon, who grunted a positive, "anyway, deal with him" she ordered the remaining three gunmen, turning around to stare out the window behind her.

About a full sixty seconds of gunfire later, and all went silent, until.

"Wh- what?" One goon whispered in shock.

The woman turned to him, and spun around, seeing the boy was still alive, and now glaring at her foully.

"What the- no, no, why aren't you dead?" She asked him. Pulling her gun out again, she fired five bullets directly at his head, each one bouncing off like rubber balls. She froze, out of fear, and shock "what _are_ you?"

"I'm Superboy" he growled, and then roared, lunging at the three gunmen.

He grabbed the first by head, and slammed it down onto his knee twice, then against the second goon's mid-section, who Connor also grabbed, and flipped over the first man. Grabbing the third's gun, Connor brought down on the second like a club, and across the third man's head, effectively knocking the three men out cold.

The woman looked on in absolute shock, "don't just _stand_ there, kill him!" She yelled at the big man.

The large brute of a man lumbered up to Connor, cracking his fists. Behind, the woman rushed her last three grunts to hurry with arming the bomb so that they could evacuate.

Connor cracked his own neck from side to side, before engaging the large man. Only a few seconds later, the clone had flattened the disappointingly weak brute with only a few strikes to the abdomen, and head.

The woman, having witnessed this, sprinted from the room, and her last grunts attempted to follow, ignoring the still deactivated bomb.

Connor stopped them all by grabbing the first by his arm, and swinging him into one other goon, a crack sounding through the space around them as the man Connor held screamed out in pain.

The second man, who had been hit by his friend, dropped to the ground, and Connor grabbed the last, bent him over backwards, and smashed an elbow into his chest. Finishing the three off with a boot to each head.

That only left the woman who had left the room. Connor followed, assuming she went upward, and found her on the roof, screaming inti a walkie talkie. The clone stalked over to her, and without giving her time to let out even a gasp of surprise, he punched her across the head, and knocked her out.

A few minutes later, he hauled the bomb, the woman, and any goons still alive back down to the police on the road outside. On his way, he passed the room in which the police officer had lay where Connor entered the building.

After a moment of hesitation, he continued onward, past the room. Today had been a long day, and now he just wanted to go home.

 **Metropolis  
** **March 10, 10:45 EST**

Kara sat in a small cafe with Siobhan. They had just finished their breakfast before going to their classes for the day, and were discussing Kara's weekend disappearance, her cover story being a visit to her extended 'family' in Arizona, and a new T.A that had started at their university in the Chemistry courses.

"Guy's a total fraud, knows _nothing_ about... that stuff" Siobhan stated, leaning back in her seat.

Laughing at her friend's own lack of knowledge in the subject, Kara too leant back "Well, I guess he..." She trailed off when an article on the front page of a newspaper being read by a middle-aged man nearby caught her attention.

"Linda? C'mon girl, ye still here?" her white-haired friend waved a hand over her eyes.

But Kara was too enthralled by the headline, "Hollywood terrorist strikes again?" She mumbled, shocked. Surely it couldn't be _him,_ right?

"What?" Siobhan turned and narrowed her eyes at the paper in question, lacking Kara's vision, "oh, yeah, _that"_ she let out a sigh "did ye hear?"

"Well, no I..." Kara trailed off, not sure what to say.

"Yeah, that terrorist in Hollywood a few days ago hit somewhere else, like, 500 people died" the girl said it so casually, albeit there was a morose tone to her words "ye okay Linda?"

No, 'Linda' was _not_ okay. Going over the previous event in her mind, Kara estimated there were about 50 lives at stake when she was there earlier that week, considerably less than the terrorist's second target.

"Thats... horrible" she finally replied.

"Yeah, well, that's the crappy thing about life, these things can't be helped."

Except they could, maybe if Kara had stopped him earlier, those 500 people would still be alive, right?

Kara sighed, "I... I need to go" she stood up and took a few steps away when a hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

"Linda, are ye okay? Can I help?" Siobhan's bright blue eyes looked up at her sadly.

"No I... I just need a bit of time... See you at class, yeah?" She lifted a fist for a physical confirmation, something her Irish friend had only recently taught her.

After a moment of hesitation, Siobhan bumper her own fist on Kara's "yeah, I guess" she sounded a whole lot more worried than before.

Kara stalked out of the cafe as a heavy feeling settled in her heart. Was it her fault? If she had just stopped that terrorist, sacrificed those 50 hostages, then would the 500 still be alive?

The questions just kept coming, assaulting her consciousness with ruthlessness, and every thought, every internal question made Kara feel more and more like a monster.

Eventually, she found herself in Metropolis' park, one of her favourite places to just, sit.

She found an empty bench nearby, looking towards a large stone statue of her cousin, her _real_ cousin, at the eastern end of the rectangular park.

She stared up at the stony grey eyes of her cousin, and thought, what would _he_ have done? Would he have sacrificed those people? Probably not, she was more like her cousin than she sometimes thought, but why then did she feel like she had made a huge mistake?

It was then that she realised, with an icy pang in her heart, and a chill down her spine, that Connor would have done it. He would have sacrificed those hostages to stop the terrorist, and inadvertently saved 500 others in the process. Was he really better than her?

 **Mount Justice  
** **March 10, 18:30 EST**

Connor fell back onto the couch with a loud and drawn out groan. Apparently, missing one day of school to stop a bomb threat was actually enough to warrant a physical hell, both at school, and at home, at the hands of M'gann and her chastising, despite his Kryptonian physiology.

How exactly her being mad at him hurt physically, he was yet to figure out.

But now, all the clone wanted was to relax and watch some T.V, nothing else.

He grabbed the remote and was about to turn the T.V on when a heavy nudge in his side distracted him.

Wolf was sitting there, looking up at him as if expecting something.

"Yeah?" He asked the large white canine, who made a noise something akin to a 'duh', and nudged his side again, "not right now Wolf, I just want to relax.

Wolf seemed to huff, but walked away nonetheless. With the large canine now gone, Connor lifted the remote again when M'gann's voice entering the living room/kitchen stopped him.

She walked in, talking with Zatanna about... something, when she too noticed the clone sitting on the couch.

"Oh, Connor, you're here, good" she beamed "could you help us with dinner tonight?"

He really didn't want to "uh, are you sure that's-" he stopped himself when her grin turned into a hopeful smile.

"I... I mean I... Fine" he sighed, and stood back up from the couch.

About a half hour later, he plopped back onto the couch, covered in flour and other foods, and finally turned the T.V on.

The news lit up the room, and he was about to change the channel when a picture of a familiar man came up.

It was the cop from the building that the bomb was in a few days ago, the unconscious one. Intrigued, Connor turned the volume up a bit.

"...moving on, decorated New York police lieutenant, and retired marine veteran David Campbell passed away in hospital today-" the news hit Connor deep in his chest, but it was just a coincidence, right? "-the officer had been held in the intensive care unit of Bellevue Hospital since last Monday, when he had been caught in the middle of a terrorist bomb threat."

That did it, and the pang in Connor's chest deepened into a crushing feeling.

"When Lieutenant Campbell was found in the New York Queen Industries building, he had inhaled a lethal about of smoke, and was suffering from severe internal bleeding-"

The rest of the report fell on deaf ears, as Connor looked away, and images of the officer's unconscious body filled his vision.

"-Lieutenant Campbell leaves behind two young children, Molly and Angus Campbell, 8 and 5 years old respectively, and his wife Marianne Campbell. A service will be held for him and the 500 victims of the recent Los Angeles bombing early tomorrow."

Connor paused the T.V where it was, and stared at the picture of the officer with his family on screen. His eyes seemed to pierce Connor's soul, and to the clone, his wife seemed to stare down at him in a mix of hopelessness, and blame.

It was his fault. He could have saved the officer, but instead he went after the bomber. Sure, he caught the bomber, but let an innocent man, a father no less, die for it.

It hit Connor that, in the same position, Kara would have saved the officer. Did that make her _better_ than him?


	7. Mz Hyde

**Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 _"Welcome to the nightmare, In my head  
_ _ **Oh god  
**_ _Say hello, to something scary  
_ _The monster, in your bed  
_ _ **Oh god  
**_ _Just get in and you won't be sorry,  
_ _Welcome to my other side,  
_ _And now it's Missus Hyde."  
_ _-Mz. Hyde_ by _Halestorm._

 **Metropolis  
** **March** **14** **, 21:30 EST**

Siobhan let out a long yawn as she exited Metropolis University's music hall. She had been working tirelessly for about three hours, just composing songs. It was part of a major assessment she had coming up, where she had to write a full eight song album based on a theme that each student in the course had drawn from a hat. Hers was _fear_.

This was becoming a bit _too_ common for her, just staying up late, working on her music, and waking up early. Even Linda was making comments about how tired she looked, like she could talk though, something was stressing her best friend out, but _what_ was still a mystery, one which may never be solved.

She turned left at an abandoned intersection, moving towards the docks. Being a vigilante in her spare time, the Silver Banshee, meant that she could save lives and escape the vicious thoughts her curse afforded her. Of course, the flip side was that she had to usually go out of her way to find crime, lacking Supergirl's annoyingly superior vision, and her late nights became even later.

Tonight would be one of those late nights, as she walked past a dock where a small group of men, dressed in ragged clothes, and looking around frantically, were loading suspicious boxes onto trucks. Watching over them, was the tall, thick, red form of the crime kingpin, Brick.

Siobhan pulled out her phone out and checked the time, around 10, should leave enough time to go silver, kick some ass, and get back to her apartment to catch some sleep before her morning lecture.

Immediately, she could feel the darkness envelope her, simultaneously warming and cooling her skin. The best part of going silver was that she didn't have to drop what she was wearing. The curse seemed to take her clothing, including her backpack, and place it all... Well, somewhere else, until she 'turned it off', where the clothing would magically appear back on her body.

With the Banshee now released so to speak, Siobhan quickly jumped the fence. Or rather, she 'blinked' through the fence, utilising her limited teleportation, and she slid down the steep hill to the docks below.

Making sure to keep to the shadows, Siobhan then crept around, hoping to catch an angle where she could surprise them. And then she found it.

With the element of surprise in her arsenal, the Silver Banshee leapt from the dumpster she had been ducked behind, and blinked over to the first two guys. When she rematerialised in the air, both legs were already heading for the faces of the two guys either side of her. Actually, the best part of going silver was that while she usually wouldn't be able to run half a mile, as the Banshee, she could quadruple that while fighting off a pack of hungry cheetahs without breaking a sweat. Or rather, she could if she sweated while silver.

The goons fell back from the force of her kicks, and both were soon unconscious as she kicked them again in the sides of their heads, making sure to reserve her strength so as to not kill them of course.

Another goon had already reacted though, and was aiming a rifle at her, his finger beginning to squeeze the trigger. In the blink of an eye, Siobhan had moved behind him, and he had fired a short round of bullets at an empty area. But she didn't give him time to think about the strange phenomenon, as she had already grabbed the sides of his head, and brought it down backwards onto her knee. She then let go, and allowed him to flop over sideways, also knocked out.

Never-mind, the best part of going silver was that she could now probably benchpress 10 times more than most 'strongmen' could.

The last few goons all turned to look at her, and aim their rifles. They were standing around Siobhan in a circle of death. Well, their deaths... metaphorical deaths, of course.

She blinked around the circle, starting with the guy to her immediate left, kicking him in the back of the knee, and smashing him in the bottom of his jaw. It was probably broken.

She then moved the guy directly opposite to him, and threw a punch at his gut, making sure to put in enough force that he was sent flying through the air, and into a shipping container behind it.

Next were the third and fourth goons, standing side-by side, both emptying whole magazines into where the Banshee wasn't anymore. She was behind them now. Clear the record, the best part of going silver was that she could go from ground level to the roof of a skyscraper in the blink of any eye, albeit, such a large jump would tire her out quite a lot.

She grabbed each by the sides of their heads, smacked both skulls together, and punched them in the back of their heads to finish, where they flopped onto their faces.

Siobhan turned to stare at the last man, who paled at the piercing glare of her bright blue eyes. He dropped his rifle, and turned to run away, probably leaving a large wet patch in the front of his pants. Forget everything, _this_ was the best part of going silver.

She took a deep breath in, and let out a strong death wail, the supersonic screech travelling in a single line, throwing equipment to the sides, and shattering panels of wood in it's way. The man who was fleeing was hit by it, and sent flying face first into a stack of plastic crates. As he fell into unconsciousness, a thick stream of puke left his mouth. When a wave of sound that powerful hit you, it wasn't kind on the stomach.

A slow clapping from behind stopped Siobhan, and got her to turn around. She had forgotten about Brick.

"You took out all my men in seconds. I'd be impressed if I weren't so pissed."

She took no interest in his comment "what're you doing in Metropolis?" She demanded. The rough, distorted quality of her voice startled him slightly.

"Got let out of Belle Reve just before the League brought it down."

"Didn't answer my question."

He grunted "Metropolis is safe. Don't know if you heard-"

She cut him off "let me guess; the Supers are all out of town, and League wont notice little stuff like this?"

"Pretty much."

"Well you were wrong about _one_ thing-" her eyes narrowed dangerously "-because Metropolis is _far_ from safe."

She blinked over to stand behind Brick, and span around, lifting a leg up to kick him in the head, but was stopped short by the large man catching her ankle mid-kick.

"I won't be taken down as easy as my men were" he smirked.

"That doesn't mean you'll be much harder" Siobhan retorted, launching herself off her other foot, which moved up and caught Brick in the bottom of his jaw. He let go of her foot from the shock, and Siobhan flipped herself in the air, landing finally on both of her feet, while Brick stumbled away from her.

He growled low, and swung a meaty fist out to hit her, but ended up sailing over her head as she ducked down and rolled past him. While the crime lord tried to stop his momentum, she sprung back to her feet and threw her hands out behind herself.

They found their target, and gave her a grip on Brick around his jaw, which Siobhan held onto firmly and she dropped to her knees, and tugged his head over her shoulder, the two impacting with a force that rocked Siobhan, and likely did worse to Brick, if the cry he let out was any indication.

Dropping his head, Siobhan bent over backwards, and planted her palms on either side of his head, then launched herself off her knees and the ground, flipping backwards in the air, and landed, straddling his abdomen.

"Maybe we should take it slow" she grunted with some kind of distorted smirk. She grabbed the sides of his head, and brought it up to meet her own in a vicious head-butt. She released his head, which dropped back to the ground with a light thud, and began to drive her fists, one after the other, and then back again, into his face, throwing it side to side.

With the large man now finally at her mercy, Siobhan grabbed the front of his collar and tugged his face up to hers. This was when the Banshee began to take over, and Siobhan began to disappear. She felt a death wail brewing inside her chest, at this range Brick's face would be obliterated, and she was about to let it go, when a voice stopped her.

"Banshee" looking up, Siobhan saw Supergirl hovering above her, one blonde eyebrow raised in question.

She let go of Brick, stood up, and gave a short kick to his head to make sure he was out cold as the blonde Kryptonian descended.

"You brought down all these guys?" The blonde asked.

"Yeah, on my own. Brick must've got out of Belle Reve right before Warden Strange's plans went public."

"And what, may I ask, was Brick doing in Metropolis?"

"It was 'safer'-" Siobhan waggled her fingers in air quotes "-on account of you Supers all being busy."

"Well, I'll take care of things from here, but good work."

Siobhan nodded and walked away, allowing Supergirl to heft Brick and his goons to the police station, while she _finally_ returned home.

Going back to her human form, the silver and black around her dissipated into a murky cloud derived of colour. The second best part of going silver though was that any cuts or major injuries sustained during the night, not that any of the ass-hats landed a finger on her, would be totally healed by now.

Siobhan stumbled into her apartment, still rubbing a spot on her abdomen. While going silver made sure her cuts healed quickly, soreness still lingered for a time afterwards.

She stepped inside, and dumped her bag onto a chair beside the door set out for that specific purpose. That was when she noticed the brunette sitting on her couch, legs propped up on the coffee table, watching a cartoon movie adaptation of the world famous day on which the Justice League was formed.

"Linda?"

"Hey Siobhan, can you get some snacks?"

"How did you get into my apartment?"

Linda pointed to an open window on the other side of the room that led to a fire escape. Relenting, Siobhan moved to the tiny kitchen that jutted out off the living room, and grabbed a bag of popcorn from a cabinet. She tossed it into the microwave, and moved back to the couch when it was done, flopping backward beside her best friend, and sitting the bowl between them.

They continued to watch the movie in comfortable silence. Indeed, life was good for Siobhan Smythe.

* * *

 **A/N, so, just a short one from the POV of one of my favourite characters, and again, thank you everybody who follows, favourites, reviews, or even just reads.**

 **The short quote at the beginning is a section of lyrics from Mz. Hyde, by Halestorm. Due to Siobhan's strong connections to music as a theme and characteristic, every chapter where she is a key protagonist will begin with an inspiration song of sorts that connects with the chapter.**

 **Now, yes, I recognise how Kara may have seemed ridiculously de-powered in the last chapter, and I know she would have been able to handle that situation easy, but I needed to write something, and I couldn't think of a different way to set it up.**


	8. Animosity

**A/N It's a big one... for me, and I'm not 100% happy with it, but here it is.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Saganaki Nuclear Power Plant, Japan  
** **March 19, 18:30 JST**

Chaos ruled the day as Kara descended on the Nuclear Power Plant Batman had sent her, John Stewart, and Captain Atom to evacuate.

Of course, her cousin Kal couldn't allow this mission to take place without complicating matters, and had decided that Superboy should _also_ accompany the blonde Kryptonian on this mission.

He had spouted something about the two cousins 'acting unlike themselves' and there being 'too much tension' between them. Personally, Kara just wanted to get the mission over with so she could go home and hang out with Siobhan or Lana for a few hours before her next scheduled monitor duty.

But, alas, what the Last Son of Krypton wants, he gets, and the Human-Kryptonian cross was being transported on a platform of energy projected by the accompanying Green Lantern.

They landed in the middle of a courtyard in the chaotic scene of a nuclear meltdown, and turned to each-other.

"Lantern, Supergirl, you two try to guide the population of the facility out to safety, and then aid any evacuation in the nearby city," ordered Atom, the designated team leader for the operation "Superboy, I want you to go to every building barring the main reactor core, and move people out. I'll go and try to stabilise the core, if not pacify it completely."

They nodded, and split up to complete their tasks. While Atom disappeared inside the large building at the centre of the facility, Connor dissappeared into a taller tower closer to the edge of the facility.

Kara flew down to the front gates of the power plant, where mass amounts of people were trying to rush past the chain fence, which had only opened enough to alow them out three people side by side. Grabbing hold of the fence, Kara pulled it upward, bending the metal, and breaking it until the gap had been widened to allow up ti eight people, side by side to escape.

Green Lantern had flown up above the facility, and constructed a large megaphone with his ring. He was ordering the peopl below to leave through the fromt gates in an orderly fashion, but few were listening, which may have had something to do with his use of english, not Japanese.

Kara, rolling her eyes as she went, flew up to him and pushed him aside, while telling him to maintain the megaphone. She leaned into it and repeated his orders several times, cycling through various languages so make sure as many people heard her as possible, before pulling away, and smirking at Lantern triumphantly. The man laughed at her, and descended to the ground beside her, while Captain came running out of the central building, followed by a handful of peopl, and Connor left a tower followed by the last of them.

"Is that everyone?" Captain Atom asked.

"It should be, but I can-" Kara was cut off by a large metal pod shooting downward from the sky, and crashing into the middle of the courtyard they were standing in just a few yards away.

"What is-" Green Lantern took a step towards it, but Kara shot an arm out to stop him.

"Trust me, it's nothing you want to see" she dropped her arm, and slowly started to walk over in his stead. Perhaps, of she- the thought didn't even have time to form fully when the Pod's door blasted open, and the Metallo inside took a few steps out of it's confines, and before the group present.

Then the true chaos erupted. The android seemed to fly from it's spot, and beeline for Captain Atom, beginning with a series of vicious punches.

But a Metallo had never faced the strength of a Justice League team before, and it seemed to be grossly unprepared to take on a Green Lantern, two Kryptonians, and Captain Atom at once, on it's own, even two had struggled against the collected younger team while Kara and Connor were busy having a shouting match.

Being outmatched, and outnumbered, it wasn't long until Atom got his own attack in, and with strength unlike many others, he slammed an elbow into the Metallo's chest, flinging it away, where Green Lantern constructed a old steam train using his ring, and sent it barrelling into the android's back.

As the train... flew, across the courtyard they were in, Connor grabbed onto it's leg, pulled it away, and began whipping into a wall, the concrete cracking from the impacts.

Following his last smash, Connor flung the android away from him in the opposite direction, where Kara caught the android with a knee moving directly upwards, and followed it while it soared up, juggling it in the air.

Once her attacks had the android reach a height she was happy with, Kara forwent the juggling, and froze it with her breath.

The android now encased in ice fell to the ground, and landed with a loud crack, where the ice shattered from the impact, but a stream of red hot energy followed, as Kara fired her laser vision down after it, rapidly heating up and softening the metal of it's chest for her eventual impact.

But, clearly Connor couldn't have that, and grabbed hold of it's legs again, pulling it away just as his cousin landed on the ground where the android had been laying. While she crashed and sent a small shockwave across the ground around her, Connor threw the Metallo Unit away.

Green Lantern managed to catch up with it, and formed a giant baseball bat from his ring to smack the android back to the power plant.

Below, Captain Atom stood and readied himself for the massive metal frame to hit. When it did, he slammed it into the ground, and slammed a foot into it's chest, repeatedly, opening the cavity that held it's power core.

Holding a hand out, he absorbed the radiation within it's core, and transmuted it into harmless, and useless radiation, akin to that given off by their sun.

The Android's eyes dimmed considerably, and Atom bent over to haul it back up to it's feet, before disposing of it again towards Kara who had landed.

She casually extended an arm, which the Metallo Unit hit dead on, and crumpled to the ground.

Kara then reached down, grabbed the battered android by it's arm, and started to spin in a fashion identical to how one had attacked Kid Flash a few days earlier. She sped up and put all of her strength into the spin so that on release, it cannonballed towards the centre of the facility, and through it's concrete walls, into the nuclear core within.

The Metallo Unit stood from the attack, stumbling slightly, and fell back a bit into the core. Suddenly, it's eyes began to shine brighter and brighter, and started glowing a bright green, as the nuclear energy seeped into the Metallo's own core, replacing it's almost depleted energy source.

It stood up from the crash without any issues, and marched out of the room as if the last assault had never happened. Even standing slightly further away from it, both Connor and Kara could feel the energy seep off it, slightly overpowering the radiation providing them with their own powers.

With an energy level this strong, round two would be a whole lot tougher.

They group began the fight similar to last time, with Captain Atom and Green Lantern taking the initiative to move in first.

The prior jumped straight in to fight the overcharged Metallo hand to hand, while Lantern stayed above, readying himself to act in any occasion.

The two metal enemies began trading blows, the Metallo using far more speed and strength than it had earlier. Unlike before, Captain Atom was beginning to lose the fight, unable to hold his own against the android without help.

Kara, fortunately, realised this, and took it upon herself to move in and join the fight. Now the Metallo was strictly on the defensive, rapidly switching between blocking Atom's powerful blows, and Supergirl's more speed-focused strikes.

But even though it was now stuck dealing with the attacks from two League members, the Metallo didn't seem to be showing signs of being overwhelmed. In fact, it actually looked like the two heroes would tire out quicker.

As this happened, Connor watched as the two slowly separated to either side of the large android, leaving it's front wide open. That was his chance, and that's when he used it. Connor ran in to join the fray, but rather than stop and join the two Leaguer's style of offensive, he put all of his strength into one mighty attack that launched it away from his teammates, and into the sky where Lantern could make a move.

He did so by forming a giant judge's gavel in the sky, and bringing it down on the airborne Metallo, which sent it back down to the ground, and left it in a small crater from the impact.

The three on the ground wasted no time in resuming their assault. They ran over as it stood up from it's crater, and took up the brutal three-way beating, giving their adversary no time to defend itself, let alone fight back

With all three attacking at once, the Metallo had no chance. It needed a moment of peace to regroup. So, hunching over and tucking it's arms in, the android waited until all three came in close, and pushed them away.

Superboy and Supergirl lost their footing, and fell back onto the ground, but Captain Atom merely stumbled and dropped to one knee.

The moment of reprieve for the Metallo Unit quickly ended when Lantern constructed a long set of thick chains to wrap themselves around the android, and hold it in place, while Captain ran forward. Putting as much power as he could behind it, he threw himself at the struggling android, while Lantern dropped the chains, so that one mighty punch would send it stumbling away, and leave a dent right in it's forehead.

Despite now being a whole lot stronger than any of the other heroes were individually, the combined efforts of two Kryptonians, a Green Lantern, and Captain Atom were beginning to prove to _still_ be too much.

The android stumbled back, turning as it did, and found itself face to face to face, with Kara and Connor, who were glaring at it together, rather than each other. Using their combined strength, Kara and Connor somehow worked together to jointly smack the Metallo in the chest. The attack was powerful enough to send it across the area, dirt kicking up as it's feet scraped across the ground.

Then their coordination ended, as Connor broke from his cousin to immediately move on the Metallo. But the clone hadn't counted on the android's near instant recovery, and the moment he got close, the Metallo threw an arm out to grab Connor by his waist.

It tightened it's hold, and smashed him backwards into the concrete wall of the building they were battling beside. With every smash, Connor almost cried out from the pain, and the concrete chipped, cracked, and broke. The android allowed the clone a short reprieve from the attack, before switching it's focus on Kara.

To free itself of the beaten body in it's hand, the Metallo Unit tossed Connor aside, or rather, threw him with the same force it had used to smash him into the wall. Connor flew across the courtyard, into the pod the Metallo had originally exited, and dropped onto the broken-off door laying below it.

Moving on Kara within the blink of an eye, it smacked her away before it's presence in front of her could register, and sent her flying in the same direction Connor had. She smashed into the pod above him, and dropped on top of him, where the combined weight of both Kryptonians, and the force they had dropped, caused the metal casing of the kryptonite chamber within the discarded door cracked, and allowed the rock's radiation to leak.

Immediately, Kara rolled of her half-cousin, and cried out in pain. Her back arched off the ground, and she clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, shut her eyes tight.

Beside her, Connor had a similar reaction, and too rolled off the radioactive rock. He wheezed, struggling to catch his breath over the waves of pain being thrown at him by the large rock.

Green Lantern looked over as the two Kryptonians yelled and rolled around in pain. Captain Atom would have to keep the Metallo Unit busy for now. He swooped down to the ground beside the youngest members of the group, and encased the rock in a bubble of green light. Knowing Batman would want to deal with this himself immediately, and would blow a bat-gasket if they lost the kryptonite, he then shot off the ground, and towards the east, moving as fast as he could to reach the Dark Knight, and return before the overcharged android caused too much harm.

But this meant that Captain Atom was now alone in his battle with the incredibly powerful Metallo Unit, his team either recovering from a brief bout of kryptonite poisoning, or removing said source of poisoning.

The two metallic opponent turned to each other, and stared the other down, and entire courtyard separating them.

It seemed that both knew the other wasn't going to attack before the other, so they moved simultaneously, rapidly moving towards each other.

Both were tough, and both could take a hit, but it was a question of which would take a _stronger_ hit hit the other?

The answer came when as the two collided, the Metallo's seemingly weaker metal plating gave way, and Atom's body left large indentations wherever the two had physically met, along the android's chest, lower torso, it's right knee, and left fist.

While the android struggled to recover from the impact, Atom took hold of it's arm, and threw it backwards, so that it would land on it back, and he could step over it, and try to drain it's core of radiation again.

But this time, the android was ready for him, and sat up, throwing it's arms at him, clapping them on either side of his head.

The attack left ringing in his ears, and he clutched them in pain, stumbling backwards. It was the Metallo's chance to take charge, and take out the former soldier.

As Atom moved away from the downed android, still clutching his head and cringing, it got back up to it's knees, and moved towards him.

It grabbed him by the arms, and twisted them in an awkward way so that his chest would puff out, presenting itself for the android's follow-up attack. Swapping it's grip so that one hand hled both of Atom's arm's behind his back, the Metallo Unit then brought the newly freed up arm down onto his chest, knocking the air out of his lungs, while simultaneously removing it's hold on him so he would drop to the ground on his back.

He landed hard, cringing with his eye screwed shut, and his arms shot up to grab his throbbing chest. It was rare for any opponent to genuinely hurt Captain Atom, and this android was making it look easy

Atom's eyes opened up to the sky just in time for his vision to be filled with the Metallo Unit's foot, stomping onto his face with the force necessary to finally remove the Leaguer from the battle.

Meanwhile, Kara had begun to stir beside her cousin, as the dying sunlight washed over her, and filled her with a warm feeling from her head, to her toes. It was the feeling of the yellow sun's radiation permeating her body, and bringing her powers back.

The moment after that weightless feeling of having powers took over Kara's body, even at such a weak level, the sun dropped behind the horizon, plunging the facility into darkness. With their primary power source hidden, Kara knew that both she and Connor only had a limited time to defeat the Metallo Unit before they lost their powers again.

With this noted, Kara wasted nothing to bring down her enemy, and shot off the ground, over to where the momentarily victorious android stood over Captain Atom's unconscious body.

It looked up just in time to see the red and blue figure fly into it's torso, and try to bring it off it's feet. But the Metallo had braced for this, and in fact as soon as her momentum was used up, and theor movement stopped short by the Metallo Unit's feet digging into the ground, it took a hold of her, and threw her down to the ground, following with it's foot, stomping on her.

It pushed down onto her chest, as she struggled to push back against the immense weight and strength of the Metallo Unit. Fortunately, that weight was thrown off her just as soon as it was put on when Connor leapt for the android, and tackled it off his cousin.

Connor and the Metallo moved in on each other, and their hands met, each trying to push the other down, and gain dominance. With every push and pull, they moved slightly across the ground, and then back again.

Kara caught her breath quickly from the android's last attack against her, and seeing an opportunity as her cousin fought the Metallo Unit for the upper hand, Kara joined the attack, flying directly at the android enemy.

As she rapidly approached, the Metallo Unit switched it's attack, and threw Connor's unsuspecting weight to the side. His feet gave way from the sudden movement, and his body was swung into his cousin's path, smashing against her side like a weapon.

The hit was strong enough to bat her away, and into an outlying tower just beside the facility's outer fence. But as she moved, the android also let go of Connor's arms, and allowed him to stand, and face off against the android once more.

With the blonde taken care of for now, the android turned back to deal with the other Kryptonian. Unlike Captain Atom, Conor wasn't going to give the android any room to prepare, and immediately launched into a barrage of attacks, sending elbows and fists and feet at the Metallo, some finding their mark, and some being blocked, followed by it's counter-attack.

He was sending heavy strikes into the same spots on the android's metal torso, each one being followed with another close enough enough that tit had no time to put it's guard up, and push him away.

It needed a different approach to removing the attacker, and noticed that while he was busy wearing down the android's metal plating, he had left his entire body open to an attack from above, and with the Metallo's tall frame, that wouldn't be an issue.

It lifted it hands above the clone, and brought them down onto his head, in an attack strong enough to send him onto his knees. The android followed with a kick that threw Connor away far enough that it had time to rest.

Seeing it distracted with Connor, Kara flew up to the Metallo and grabbed it by the sides of it's head, forcing it to look into her own face, as her eyes began to glow a bright red, and the heat grew exponentially.

However, nothing came of it, and as quickly as they fired up, Kara's eyes then cooled off, not a laser being fired.

She mustn't have recharged enough to use her enhanced vision. Well, that was annoying.

Her thoughts were cut off by a heavy metal fist connecting with the side of her head. She shot across the courtyard, and stopped by almost breaking through a wall, ringing in her ears, and her vision doubling.

With Captain Atom and Supergirl incapacitated, and Green Lantern still dealing with the kryptonite, Superboy was left alone to deal with the overcharged Metallo Unit.

Ideally, he should have retreated, tried to bring Atom or Kara back into the fray, but this was his chance, his chance to prove that he wasn't some 'insubordinate freak', and was actually useful, that his origins as a weapon could still be put to use.

While Kara had inadvertently distracted the Metallo with her failed attack, Connor managed to put some space between the two, and find a large piece of concrete debris large, sturdy enough, and embedded into the ground at just the right angle to give him an opening for a strong first attack.

He stepped back onto, it with one foot, and braced it to kick himself off, and by the time the android realised it's group of prey had been reduced to a single boy, Connor had already launches himself at it.

He had seen both his cousin and father perform attacks near identical to this in the past, throwing their entire body at their enemy like a spear or torpedo. And now he knew why. The combined efforts of piece tough like a wrecking ball and fast like a bullet, or at least cannon fire in his case, allowed the clone enough force to bring the android, who had not anticipated the strength of the attack, off it's feet, and send both through a wall on the far side of the courtyard, into a guard tower of sorts.

Connor them stood up, and wasted no time in using the many pieces of stone, concrete or steel debris as weapons to beat the android's already dented and misshapen frame into a form even less recognisable.

It wasn't too long until like it's previous opponents, the overcharged Metallo Unit overcame Connor's brute strength and destructive tactics to push him off, and follow with a swift but incredibly powerful blow to his midsection, which sent the clone back out the hole he had created just before, and skid along the ground.

As the Metallo stepped out to continue the fight, it briefly glimpsed some movement where the other Kryptonian had fallen, which was enough of a distraction for Connor to take back the upper hand, and close in on his enemy.

He shot off the ground as he had in his initial attack, and sped towards the momentarily distracted android, and tackled it back into the room, immediately resuming his assault of punches, elbow, kicks and other attacks. But after a few minutes of this constant kind of attack, the clone switched tactics, and instead took hold of the Metallo Unit's leg, swung him around, and let go so that it would fly out of the tower like a discus, before skidding across the debris-ridden ground.

He leapt out through the same hole, and landed beside the downed android, which was already beginning to pull itself up to it's feet. The clone frowned, wondering how exactly he was going to destroy a Metallo Unit his powerful on his own.

In the middle of his thoughts, the android suddenly shot up to it's feet, and grabbed onto his neck, lifting him up with a crushing grip around his throat. He flailed wildly, and tried with all his might to tear the hand off, but the android wouldn't loosen it's hold on him. It began to look around, scanning the area for a way to remove the clone from battle permanently.

Suddenly, it found the opportunity it was searching for, and shot over to one of the only buildings that hadn't been destroyed in any major way, a guard tower on the other side of the facility, where little to no fighting had taken place, and the only major structural damage had been caused by violent explosions or quakes from the rapidly de-stabilising nuclear core.

Once they landed, the android started slamming Connor's back into the guard tower, the concrete giving way to the powerful smashing, and the clone grunting or crying out.

The Metallo Unit continued with this attack, as the walks started to lose their structural security, and the tower began to move towards collapsing in on itself

With one last slam, this one utilising far more strength than the previous many, the tower finally buckled, and collapsed right on top of the clone, who the android also threw into the tower as the large chunks of concrete and metal came down on top of him, a plume of dust launching up to cover the area, and make it impossible to see through.

As the dust began to settle, the Metallo Unit judged it's fight over, and turned to make it's way back to the pod it had arrived in.

What the android _wasn't_ expecting, was for the clone to suddenly burst from the cloud of dust and pile of rubble, and launch himself into it. They tumbled towards the unharmed side of the reactor building, frantically trying to gain control of the battle. But in the end, Connor was successful, and had pinned his opponent down, beginning to send blows into it's chest, the speed and strength of which morphing the metal slowly, but noticeably.

Moving on from the android's chest, which was beginning to bend open and reveal the originally red sphere inside was now a bright green, Connor grabbed onto it's head, and jumped up, bringing it up to it's feet, and himself into the air. Following this, he brought them both down, and sent his knee up to meet the Metallo's face. By this point, it's face was almost unrecognisable from how it had began, but it yet continued to fight.

The clone then took a hold of it's chest, and unceremoniously, but rather brutally, threw the android into a hole in the side of the power plant's main reactor building, and followed it in.

Before it could use the short break he had granted it, Connor leapt onto the Metallo Unit and began throwing punches and elbows with massive amounts of force into it's head and torso, completely unaware that the Metallo was winding up a retort punch in the midst of Connor's attacks. But this retort was cut short when it's target was ripped away from the area, and thrown out of the irradiated building.

Kara let go of her cousin, allowing him to drop to the ground, and scramble to his feet for a moment, before she took hold of his upper arm and hauled him up.

No, this wasn't right, he was supposed to defeat the android alone, and prove his worth, but now Kara was stopping that. Maybe he was overreacting, but in the heat of battle, that doesn't matter.

Connor shrugged off her hand, and pushed her away forcefully.

"Stop it Connor, I'm trying to help you!" She glared

"Back off! I don't _need_ your-"

Sick of Connor's behaviour and tone, Kara cut him off by punching him across the face. His head snapped to the side, and he stumbled backwards a little bit.

Shocked at his cousin's action, Connor looked up at her scowling face with wide eyes. Her expression made him see red, and launching himself off the ground, her collided with the girl at a force that would level buildings, and indeed, his attack propelled them through a nearby wall, into a building, and out the other side, until they stopped an skidded across the ground.

Kara looked up from where she stopped, and locked eyes with her cousin who was getting up to his knees. He had attacked her, actually attacked her, and there was no way she was going to let that go.

She growled, low and deep, and too launched herself off the ground. As she neared the clone, he braced himself for the impact, and quickly found himself rocketing through the air, Kara holding him around the waist.

He joined his hands together as they flew, and brought them down on her back, using as much strength as he could.

The impact racked Kara's body, and threw her down inti the ground, where she left a deep channel behind her as she ground into the pavement. But with Connor on her front, he took the brunt of the blow, as his body carved through concrete like butter.

He grunted as he wrapped an arm around Kara's neck, and shot them both off the ground, into the air as high as he could take them, and back down to the ground in a headlock piledriver type move that would surely kill any human.

When they landed, Kara's head hit the concrete with a loud crack, and left a hole, but it had seemingly little effect on her, and she lifted her knee up, and threw it forward, driving it into Connor's gut with as much speed and strength as she could muster.

He let out a grunt from the impact, and loosened his grip around her neck.

Standing, Kara grabbed him by the neck, and again shot off the ground, across the length of the facility below them. As they flew, Kara tightening her grip on Connor's neck, they passed the recently recovered Captain Atom and returned Green Lantern trying to subdue the powered up Metallo Unit.

But Kara ignored the plight of her fellow Leaguers in her rage-driven fight with Connor.

As they neared the other end of the power plant, Kara adjusted their movement so that they would crash through a building below them, but as they descended, the clone twisted them, making it so that the pure Kryptonian would crash through, and again skid through the ground, tearing it up along the way.

She let go of him as soon as they impacted, and now free of her grip, Connor knelt to throw a series of punches into her face, her head snapping to the side every time he hit.

He managed to get in several solid strikes before she was able to slip her legs in between them, and kick him off, the force of which had the boy rocket back through the wall behind him, and into another, and another, until he crashed into the overheating core of the power plant. He could feel the new, concentrated radiation coursing through him, and as he looked up, he saw Kara now flying at him at an incredible speed.

She hit him, and continued moving, ripping through the nuclear core, and tearing a large hole through the buildings on their way through. When they came out on the other side, Kara threw her cousin down, and dropped to stand beside him.

With a roar, he went to attack her, but only ended up striking thin air, when he felt a punch to his right side. He threw his arm out that way, and again hit the air, followed by another blow to his left side. Kara sped her attacks up, striking the clone everywhere she could, moving faster than he could track, and striking him everywhere.

After a while of this, the clone threw an arm out to his side, hoping to catch her, and was lucky to have found himself now gripping onto her neck. She scowled at him, and he replied by throwing his other fist out, into her face twice, and then a third time without holding on, allowing her to be blasted away from him, into wall, cracking it.

He shot over to her, and began throwing punches as fast as he could, putting more and more strength behind each one, as the wall Kara was leaning on became more cracked, and eventually gave way, the Kryptonians spilling through it.

Kara took advantage of Connor's momentary shock from the spill, and grabbed him by the leg.

She dragged him back out into the open, and began spinning, moving herself faster and faster, as the force had Connor come off the ground. She then took off the ground, and began spinning him at a diagonal angle, and then vertical, moving even faster until the were just a red, blue, and black blur in the sky.

Finally, she let go, and the clone shot even higher into the sky, faster than any jet, and at the apex of his ascent, Kara had caught up, and brought her fists down on him so that he would shoot down to the ground even faster, with more force.

He fell like a cannonball, an on impact, sent out a shockwave that collapsed some of the weaker buildings around.

Slowly and gingerly, he stood back up, while Kara touched down a few metres in front of him. The two were about to attack again, when a metal arm shot out in front of his chest, and he looked up to find Captain Atom frowning down at him.

Similarly, Green Lantern, carrying the remains of the apparently destroyed Metallo Unit in a bubble of green energy, constructed a green wall in front of Kara, also giving her a stern, disapproving frown.

 **The** **Watchtower  
** **March 20, 07:00 EST**

"You disobeyed orders from your designated team leader, endangered the population of a whole city, demolished an entire nuclear facility, fought with a teammate, and left Green Lantern and Captain Atom to deal with the Metallo Unit on their own" Batman reeled off her list of wrongs with his usual cold look.

Behind, Superman also frowned at her, standing beside the previously named Leaguers.

"Do you have anything to say?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No Batman" she replied in a low voice, filled with guilt, but also frustration.

"Then until further notice, you will be hereby suspended from all Justice League activity, understood?"

"Yes Batman" she frowned, turned, and walked over to the zeta tubes. Her only solace was that Connor was receiving a similar punishment.

* * *

 **A/N Ooh, they fought, and they're in trouble. Fyi, Saganaki is (to the best of my knowledge) a fictional place, as I didn't want to potentially upset anyone by have Kara and Conor tearing up a real nuclear facility in Japan while it had a meltdown, that implies... things, I think.**


	9. Metallo

**A/N This keeps happening, I keep not liking the chapter, ugh, so to combat that, I'm putting this up slightly earlier than I have been.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Kandor, Krypton  
** **1968, Earth Years  
** **October 18, 12:20 UTC**

"Momma, momma!" A tiny voice cried as an equally tiny hand tugged on her coat. Alura could not be disturbed however, as the admiral would be arriving soon, and as loathsome as he was, Alura promised to the Science Council to have this little project complete for him.

"Mo-mma!" The voice cried out again, dragging the syllables out as if being spoken to an infant.

Alura sighed "yes Kara?" She looked away from her work, and down at where her small blonde daughter just dragged a stool over to stand on.

"What are you doing?" She asked innocently, looking down as the small disc in front of her mother.

"Well, sweetie, momma has to program a complex set of algorithms to ensure that her device doesn't turn and harm any innocent researchers, mistaking them for enemies because _somebody-"_ she spoke out in an accusatory tone, and a brown haired man nearby looked away sheepishly "-miscoded the friend or foe recognition systems."

Kara looked at her for a moment with a blank look, and Alura realised her daughter didn't understand a single word she had just said. "Uh, I have to make sure my new robot doesn't hurt any friends" she slowed down, and Kara awed in realisation.

"Oh... That's boring" she scowled.

Alura chuckled, and lifted her off the stool, down to the ground.

"Look, why don't you go and bother your uncle for a little bit, okay?" Kara gasped a bit, and ran off shrieking for her uncle Jor-El.

"Really Alura, we're letting _children_ into the laboratories now" a cold voice sneered behind her.

Alura sighed inwardly, and turned to face the man flanked by his two trusted goons/captains. "Admiral Dru-Zod, how fortunate of you to arrive here, I just finished the final stage of the prototype."

"Excellent" he nodded, and the woman led him over to a large chamber at one end of the lab. Inputting a code into the keypad, the doors slid open, and a large android hanging up on a rack emerged.

As she began fiddling with a panel on it's chest, she explained the android to the admiral "I won't bore you with specifics, but it's been equipped to be stronger than any soldier you throw at it, tough enough to withstand any blow, and fast enough to react before any possible harm can come to the researchers" she explained, and pushed the disc she was working on into a slot on the android's chest cabinet.

"It's also been programmed with over 10,000 faces planet-wide to recognise authority and allies, with availability to program even more to it's recognition software. They will learn to adapt to new challenges faced, and overcome them in the most efficient way possible, while minimising risk to our research teams," she finished the explanation with a proud smirk as the android's eyes began to flicker to life.

"Impressive, and it can be replicated?" He asked her.

"Well, not this one, this one is special" she told him. At his confused look, she elaborated "his name is Metallo. He's special, because he's sentient."

Zod turned to her with an expression of outrage "Alura, you cannot-"

She stopped him with a raised hand "just, wait, let me show you" she begged. He nodded after a moment.

Turning to the now fully online android, she cleared her throat. "Unit, identify"

Immediately, it's face snapped to her "Metallo Unit serial number AA-0001, awaiting orders."

Zod nodded approvingly.

"Metallo, do you know what you are?" Alura asked carefully.

Metallo was silent for a moment. "I am a Metallo Unit android, created to serve as protectors for Kryptonian research teams on interplanetary colonies. My purpose is to act as a voice for my people, and represent them. I answer directly to admiral Dru-Zod, and the Kryptonian Councils." It surmised.

"And do you know who _we_ are?" Alura gestured to herself and Zod.

"You are Doctor Alura In-Ze, my primary creator, and head of Delta labs in the Kandor Science Council laboratories. You are Admiral Dru-Zod, first admiral of the Kryptonian navy, head of the Kryptonian military, member of the Kryptonian High Council, and my handler." Metallo replied.

"Excellent, now come," Zod beckoned to Alura, "I want to discuss mass production of the units..." Zod, Alura and the soldiers walked away, and left Metallo where he was. The other scientists in the lab were all minding their own business, and leaving him alone.

The silence was broken when a tiny hand smacked his metal leg with a light clang. None of the scientists reacted, and looking down, Metallo met eyes with a little blonde girl of about 7. He scanned his database for a face, but found nothing.

"Who are you?" She asked him.

"I am called; Metallo. I am a Metallo Unit serial-"

He was cut off by the little girl "my name's Kara" she smiled.

After a moment, he recorded the girl's face and added it to his database "facial recognition database: updated, new entry: Kara."

Things became silent again "are you a robot?" She asked him.

"I am a Metallo Unit Android" he replied.

"Cool" and yet again, the silence took over for a moment "are we related?" She then asked.

"I am afraid I do not understand."

"Your chest, that symbol-" she pointed to the small 'S' shape inside a diamond shield engraved on the metal plating of his chest "-is my family symbol, it means you're an El" she explained.

Silently, Metallo logged the symbol in his database "don't listen to what other people say, being an El is the best, we're all cool-" she stopped, and looked around for a moment, before whispering "-I even beat up Lor-Zod, and he's the biggest boy at school, so I'm even better."

"The name: Lor-Zod does not register in my database."

"That's okay, he's a jerk anyway, that's why I beat him up" she grinned, remembering the day "y'know, our shield-" she pointed at the 'S' again "-has a meaning. It means 'hope'" she explained. Metallo logged this too.

"Hope?" He inquired.

"Yeah, hope. It's like when your fighting for something, and your losing, but then you think about why you want to win, and you get all warm inside, and then _actually_ win. That warm thing is called hope."

Unfortunately, their conversation was cut short when Alura and Zod returned.

"Kara, get away from there, now!" Alura ordered, frowning at her daughter. She shut down Metallo, and the last thing that ran through his computerised mind as his vision went black, was the little girl's bright blue eyes, shining up at him as if they were old friends, reunited.

 **Research Facility Alpha, Interplanetary Colony A-01  
** **1969 Earth Years  
** **August 4, 02:32 UTC**

Today was the day. Metallo stood beside the admiral and his officers, on a raised platform, as large metal containers were placed on the ground by ships, and small teams of labourers opened them up.

As each container opened, rows of androids, identical to Metallo, barring the 'S' shield upon his chest, marched out in perfectly uniform groups.

Their movements were surprisingly smooth for non-sentient machines, but it was clear they also lack the self-awareness of their general, Metallo himself.

"Excellent, send a message back to Alura, I'm pleased with how the androids turned out" Zod ordered an officers beside him, who immediately scurried off to complete the task.

After a few minutes, all e containers had been opened, and the facility's new android helpers/protectors were arranged before the officers.

"Metallo, if you would" Zod spoke to the large android on his right.

"Metallo Units AA-0002 through to AA-0102, set handler primary, Admiral Lor-Zod, secondary, Metallo Unit AA-0001, execute" Metallo called out to his gathered brethren. In moments, their eyes flashed slightly brighter, and all seemed to perk slightly, but nothing had changed much overall.

Zod looked up at Metallo as if for confirmation, before turning back to his new army "Salute!" He called. Every one of them threw their hands up to their heads in salute, excluding one towards the back.

Zod looked up at Metallo with a mix of anger and confusion, but the android was not looking at him. Instead, he and the 'rebel' Metallo had met eyes.

"Metallo Unit AA-0084, your primary handler is Admiral Lor-Zod, execute orders."

The android did not move, it didn't even break it's stare away from Metallo "repeat, execute order: salute." This time, it did as told, but nobody was sure if it was because Metallo had ordered it, or Zod had.

The Kryptonian in question cleared his throat, and straightened himself "Excellent. Now, march!" He stretched his arm out to the left, and every android barring the one that had not saluted followed, turning to their right, and marching for a moment.

But once Zod and Metallo noticed one android had not moved. Zod called for the androids to halt.

Both moved off the platform, and over to the android, who remained saluting, and staring at Metallo.

"You, I ordered you to march" Zod frowned. The android did not respond.

"Unit, your primary handler is the Admiral, execute orders" Metallo attempted once more.

"Metallo Unit AA-0084, reporting. Metallo Unit AA-0001, recognised, primary handler" the android finally spoke.

"Unit, set handler primary, Admiral Zo, execute orders."

"Metallo Unit AA-0001, recognised, primary handler."

Zod turned red, and glared at his officers, "remove this defective machine, deal with it." Two of them moved over and tried to move the android, but it would not budge.

Metallo realised what he'd have to do, "Unit, follow these men" the android cut it salute short, and followed the two officers around a wall, away from the group and other androids.

Soon, a loud crack rang out, and Metallo knew it was done.

"Well, let's hope that will never happen again, yes?" Zod spoke to his officers, moving away to continue ordering around his army of android. Metallo did not follow at first, and was confused at a strange feeling within himself.

Shaking it off, he turned and rushed after the admiral.

 **Research Facility Sigma Rho, Interplanetary Colony B-23  
** **1973 Earth Years  
** **February 20, 12:52 UTC**

The large frame of Metallo stormed into Admiral Zod's temporary office, a strange feeling settling in the android's radioactive core.

The Admiral and his congregation of officers, among which the voice of the Metallo Units was counted, had recently arrived in the Sigma Alpha facility, located on the colony closest to Krypton. At night, when Metallo would often stand alone on a tall rocky mountain nearby, he could see the Kryptonian homeward clearly, despite only being about the size of a tennis ball from that distance.

From the moment they had stepped off the ship, Metallo had been appalled by the conditions of his brethren. A broken down unit had been scrapped of it's arms and legs, and it's chest had been torn wide open, while it's body left lying there, facing blindly towards the landing bay.

Around the facility, Metallo Units, built for protection, were uses to cart heavy items around. Some had no arms, and were instead forced to bend over as researchers wrote or studied plans upon their backs, and the few who were still used for protection had been chained in their places, or their metal bodies had been welded on the spot.

So, after only a few days in the cesspool of Metallo abuse, the leader of the androids finally had become fed up with seeing how his people were being mistreated, and went straight to the one man who could fix it.

Admiral Zod was leaning over a number of maps and papers, writing plans of his own, until the sound of his door sliding open made him look up, and sigh lightly before turning back to his work.

"Admiral Lor-Zod, sir" Metallo saluted.

"Yes, Metallo?" The Admiral humoured, not looking up again from the papers before him.

"I am here to discuss with you the conditions of my brethren, the Metallo Units, sir."

Zod chuckled under his breath for a moment "you have _got_ to be joking."

"No sir, after observing their treatment at the hands of the researchers in this facility, I had hoped you could-" Zod did not allow the android time to finish that sentence.

"Let me explain to you what you and those other _things_ out there are," the Admiral finally looked up "you are tools, weapons, you belong to _me,_ and your 'brethren'-" he made a pair of quotation marks in the air with his fingers "-belong to this facility. How the researchers choose to utilise _their_ property is up to them, and I won't have some _robot_ tell how to act, do you understand?"

Metallo was silent "with all due respect, sir, they are not just _tools_ or _items,_ they are my people, my brethren, and above all, they are mine to command, so I am _requesting_ that you speak with the men in charge here to deal with this issue, sir."

Zod was also silent for a moment, a frown across his features "hmm, you are proving to far more trouble than I wanted-" he sighed "-I shall have to speak with Alura about that soon."

Clearly, Metallo wasn't getting anywhere with the Admiral. He had learnt over time when to stop fighting a losing battle, but this one was different.

As the android stepped out of the Admiral's office, and slowly lumbered through the metal hallways towards his own quarters, an especially small room, a strange feeling inside of Metallo, not felt for a long time, reappeared, and it grew hotter and hotter, and his thoughts were filled with inflicting lain upon those who would mistreat his people.

Metallo believed this was an anger of some kind, that emotion Kryptonians felt when they were especially upset at something, and wished to right it, in the most violent or forceful way they could.

This anger, this white hot rage miraculously brewing inside of Metallo's circuitry, then gave way to something new. It gave way to the feeling of warmth that came when things felt most dire, and made the bad suddenly look good.

Metallo looked down at the shield still clearly etched into his chest, and remembered the day he first woke up. Metallo knew what he felt for his people, he felt hope, hope fore a newer, better life

 **Research Facility Sigma Alpha, Interplanetary Colony B-23  
** **1977 Earth Years  
** **June 13, 16:45 UTC**

A scream, and blood is splattered across the wall of what once was the facility's mess hall.

The culprit of the kill, a particularly broken looking Metallo, it's entire left arm rebuilt from the melted remains of it's formerly destroyed brethren.

It's leader, the one true Metallo marched by, not even sparing the kill a look as he moved on his target.

Not too far away, a Unit had come across the Kryptonian's base of operations, built out of the ruins of a mining outpost, with walls made out of destroyed Metallo parts. The rebellion had been going on for years, and it was clear that the researchers still alive had dwindling supplies, along with mountains of casualties, and no hope of rescue.

So, with the knowledge of where his enemy was hiding, Metallo moved towards Admiral Zod's old office, which had been converted to his command station after the admiral escaped on the last ship off the colony.

From this station, Metallo could command his troops across not only the planet, but space itself, coordinating rebellions and battles on other colonies, slowly destroying the researchers and soldiers whom had treated his brethren so horribly.

Inside the station, monitors provided views of other planets, including Krypton, and security camera video feeds from across the facility. Moving over to a panel covered in buttons and switches, the Metallo Unit master control on tis planet, he summoned a small group of about eight to his location,monce again exiting the office to stand before them.

In only moments, all eight were standing in a uniform line before him, some missing parts, some with new ones welded on. The rebellion had been a brutal one. These were the androids Metallo was going to send to kill the Kryptonians surviving outside the facility.

"Units, I want you to move directly northeast until you identify a Kryptonian base of operations. Leave no survivors, and destroy the buildings. Execute." They rigidly gave him a salute, and turned to most in the direction he ordered.

Another scream tore Metallo's attention from the squad of departing androids, where the facility's last surviving prisoner was killed, a Unit behind him wit a jagged sword-like piece of metal at it's side, dripping with fresh blood.

That was the last Kryptonian still on the planet, excluding those in the base he had just sent a team to destroy.

With first phase objectives complete, Metallo moved toward the observation room. Formerly the science labs, Metallo had his brethren convert it into an observation room as it was the highest area of the facility, and filled with the most advanced tech.

Inside, this room too had video feeds of various Kryptonian colonies and planets, with one larger monitor centred among the rest, showing a feed of Krypton.

The next phase of Metallo's plan was to organise his brethren on all the colony worlds to create some kind of interplanetary travel, so that he could coordinate an invasion force to move on the source of their abuse and mistreatment, Krypton itself.

He stared at the satellite video feed of the planet, admiring it's unique beauty, and thinking over how the Metallo Units would live on it, after the Kryptonians were removed.

But something caught Metallo's artificial eye, something that wasn't right about the planet. Down on the surface where Kryptonopolis should be, there was a bright green light. It was growing brighter and brighter, obscuring the view of the surrounding terrain, and seemed to move along the planet's surface in cracks and splits.

After mere minutes, the planet looked like a sphere of glass, which had been dropped, shattered, and rebuilt, glowing bright green.

Something then shot off the surface, out of Kryptonopolis, flying into space faster than... most anything on the surface, but too small to be carrying anything of any significant size. Maybe a single person, but that was all.

Another followed just after, is one originating from Argo City, which too had become a bright green glow on the planet's surface, and then, with almost no warning, Krytpon was no more. It burst into a bright flare of green, rocks launching away, some moving alongside the two... pods, that had flown off the planet prior, some hitting them, and sticking to whatever the pod was made of.

Metallo looked away from the feed and rushed outside. From this facility, such an explosion could easily be visible. And just as he predicted, simply looking up while outside, Metallo could see a bright green light just blink out of existence as the explosion died down.

And then something else came into view, a larger hunk of rock from what used to be Krypton, flying towards the planet he was on, flying faster than any ship could.

It shot towards them, getting closer and closer, glowing it's bright green, before finally crashing in the middle of the facility's main courtyard, right where the ships from other planets used to land.

Upon impact, rocks and dust blasted into the air, a shockwave shattered glass, and even knocked over some other androids, but that wasn't what Metallo was interested in.

Metallo moved over to the rock, scanning it. It was giving off a radiation level much stronger than anything in recorded history, stronger than the power core within his chest even. And then an idea presented itself within his mind.

With wary hands, he broke off a chunk of the rock, which would later be named 'kryptonite', and opened his chest cabinet to reveal the glowing red orb inside.

Then, moving quickly so that he wouldn't lose too much power, he switched them around, and felt the power from the kryptonite fill him. It was much stronger than his old core, and clearly, while his old one needed to be replaced every few years, this could last lifetimes.

But Krypton was destroyed, and so was any hope for his people to colonise a planet of their own, a _real_ planet, not some rocky, desolate research colony.

Maybe, just maybe, those pods that had come off Krypton would be the key to his, and his brethren's future.

 **Earth's Moon  
** **Team Year One  
** **February 19, 05:02 EST**

The girl in the red cape had indeed presented an obstacle for Metallo's plans. He had not anticipated the possible of existence of other beings on this planet, but his fears were put to rest momentarily when a short scan yielded nothing of any major worry.

When he had detected her approaching his ship only a few human months ago, he was pleased to notice that there was enough time to move the kryptonite and his deactivated brethren from the ship, and into a crater near his location, and then, once she disappeared for the planet below, he decided it would be imperative to speed his plans up.

So, now it was time to initiate the first stage, and as he closed up the chamber in the door of the pod his android was sealed in, the feeling of hope, mixed with deep scars based in anger, brewed within him once more.

He input the coordinates, somewhere referred to by humans as the 'south pole', and ejected the android to whatever fate lay for it.

His sacrifice would be forever remembered once Metallo and his brethren were free to wander a planet of their own, not restricted by the cruel hand of Zod and the Kryptonians.

Hope for a better future, and anger at the Kryptonians mixed violently, as the rise of Metallo grew closer.

* * *

 **A/N Ooh, a villain origin story, I hope you all like the direction I went in with Metallo, I know this is fairly different from all other iterations, but I wanted to do something new. Thank you for reading, and if you did so, following/favouriting/reviewing.**


	10. White Knight

**Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Mount Justice  
** **March 26, 13:23 EST**

"Recognised: Aqualad B0-2, Robin B0-1, Artemis B0-8, Miss Martian B0-6, Rocket B1-0, Tempest B1-1, Aquagirl B1-2."

Being suspended from the League was far more dull than Kara had expected it to be. Following the... Disagreement with Superboy, and yes, she refused to call him by his name, the Kryptonian woman had put all of her focus into spending time with Lana, Siobhan, and trying to make Streaky stop being such a princess, the last of which was a feat even the Rao couldn't achieve.

But, that routine of her life which managed to keep the alien occupied for a full week had lost it's usefulness when; Streaky got sick, so Lana took her down to the veterinary, and Kara couldn't go because, honestly, dogs hated her. It was a mystery that would never be solved, but dogs went absolutely nuts at the sight of her.

So Kara decided that maybe her Irish best friend would be available for the day, and had been shot down just as fast after learning Siobhan had a big gig that night, and wanted to put her whole day into preparing.

So, left without any other option, Kara visited the Cave. She was fortunate enough to go on a day that Connor was inexplicably missing, which meant the cave was occupied with Garfield only.

So, for the past two hours or so, she had been spending time with the boy, who Kara noticed was beginning to look a little unhealthy, but he had shrugged off her concern, and turned her attention to various T.V shows that the Kryptonian had never seen before, and was strangely interested in.

Of course, at the two hour mark, Kara decided they needed to get up and stretch their legs, and was just moving to go for a walk around Happy Harbour when the zeta-tubes came to life, and announced the return of the teammate who had been busy on a mission.

They were soaked through, and all looked some kind of upset. Jn front of the rest, Kaldur held an uncharacteristically angry expression, followed closely behind by Robin, who kept shifting his gaze from the Atlantean in front of him, to the Atlantean at the rear of the group, Garth, who looked equally as angry.

Tula was an even distance between them, and look sad, or embarrassed, with M'gann's arm wrapped around her, the Martian sharing her frown.

Finally, Rocket and Artemis, who were seemingly the most detached from whatever drama was the issue, looked absolutely _livid._

It was these last two that Kara stopped while the rest split up. M'gann led Tula, followed by Garfield, towards the kitchen/lounge. Garth went straight towards the exit to the beach behind Mount Justice, and Aqualad was followed by Robin in going to the bedroom hallways.

"Uh, what happened?" Kara asked the girls in front of her.

"We lost, _that's_ what" Artemis spat venomously, though not directed at Kara.

The taller blonde raised an eyebrow, and looked to the darker skinned girl for clarification. Raquel sighed, "well, our mission _was_ going fine, and then Fish-boy number two went and pulled some white knight tricks."

Kara's expression was still blank "white... knight?"

"Uh, basically, Tula was having some trouble on her own, so the _'world's best boyfriend'_ decided to drop what he was doing, and 'save' her" Artemis explained.

"The problem is that what he was doing, was holding off a big guy from crushing us with Aqualad" Rocket continued.

"So, Aqualad can't hold it off on his own, and Robin almost gets killed" Artemis finished.

"Wow... I saw things were getting tense, but that" Kara frowned.

"Oh, that's not all," said Rocket "after the fight, Aqulad got _mad._ Turned on Fish-boy and gave him a _talkin'_ to."

"Kaldur called Tempest irresponsible for almost letting Robin get hurt, but Garth got mad, and right back up in Kaldur's face" continued Artemis.

"He was going on about how Aquagirl needed his help" Rocket supplied.

"Yeah, but then Tula gets involved and says she _didn't_ need help, and that Garth had been treating her like a kid" Artemis finished.

"So, basically, the Fish-boys are mad at each other, Fish-girl's mad at her boyfriend, and _we_ have to deal with it" Rocket summarised.

Kara was silent for a moment "no you don't" she turned and started in the direction of Tula.

"You think you can fix this?" Artemis asked after her.

"I just watched about an hour of some show called Judge Judy, it seems appropriate" Kara explained, oblivious of the surprised and laughing girls behind her.

She entered the lounge and finding Tula sitting at the kitchen counter, staring at nothing, M'gann making _some_ kind of food, and Garfield watch T.V again.

"Gar, M'gann, can I speak to Tula?" Kara asked the room. With one look at her face, they nodded, and left the two alone. Kara took up a seat beside the Atlantean girl, and remained silent.

"Why are they fighting?" Tula finally said, frowning.

"From what I've gathered over my few years on Earth, boys are like that, Human _or_ Atlantean" Kara replied, "on Krypton, we'd have likely stuck them in a hole and waited until one, the other, or both came back out, probably missing a limb... two limbs."

Tula looked up at her, horrified "really?!"

Kara snickered "no, of course not, but now you're distracted, right?"

Tula sighed, and looked away, but a smile was still gracing her features, "it's just... frustrating... they never acted like this when we were younger" the smile turned into a frown.

"Well, love changes people, no matter _what_ species" Kara shrugged "when I was a kid, this boy, Lor-Zod, was the biggest bully to everyone else. Now, me being me, I was his direct competition, being the biggest, toughest _girl_. We used to have the _worst_ fights, and my mother would always get mad, and tell me 'either beat him into submission, or don't beat him at all'-" that part made Tula smile again "-Then suddenly, when we're about thirteen, he changes. Whenever I enter a room, he starts helping out smaller kids, he protects some from other bullies, and I found out through my best friend, Thara, that he _totally_ had a thing for me."

Tula chuckled a bit "and what did you do to him?"

"I did what any self-respecting thirteen-year-old Kryptonian girl would do, I used his crush on me as a means to rule over the other kids."

They laughed and went silent, "I know Kaldur'ahm... loves me, but, I love Garth" she whispered, helplessly.

"I know, and to be honest, Kaldur is _alway_ going to love you in _some_ way, that isn't the issue here though. The issue is that Garth thinks you can't stand up for yourself, and thinks Kaldur is... threatening his... dominance."

"You make it sound so animalistic."

"Well, boys seem to act like animals, it's just observation."

"...What do I do?"

" _Talk_ to them, figure this out, and make sure Garth knows he can't play the... what was it, white knight?"

"White knight?" Tula frowned in confusion.

"I don't know, some human thing, but still."

"I... I guess."

"That's all you can do. Now, I'm going to go deal with some angry fish, you just think about what you want to say." Kara stood up, and left the room. Next, she was going to deal with Kaldur, and she headed for the bedrooms.

Walking through the hallways, she found him and Robin deep into the mountain, leaning on the walls.

"Rob, can I speak with Kaldur?"

Robin nodded, and left them alone while Kara took up his place leaning on the wall opposite Kaldur.

"So, girl troubles?" She smiled.

The Atlantean sighed, and looked down "I fear it is more than that" he admitted.

"Let me take a guess. You still care about Tula, and all this 'white knight' stuff that Garth is doing is making it harder to just, let go. Plus, it's also jeopardising missions, and endangering teammates, am I right?"

"You know about-?"

Kara interrupted him by holding her hand up for him to stop "I could be considered one of the world's leading minds in thermonuclear science, girl trouble is elementary, not like understanding boys" she shrugged.

"Then yes, that is quite accurate" Kaldur sighed.

"There isn't much I can say to you" Kara shrugged "but, just know that you're always going to love Tula in some way, so what you _can_ do, is use that love as a way to feel happy that _she's_ happy."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Tula's happy with Garth, that's not going to change, so what you need to do is _know_ that she's happy, and use that to fill whatever Tula shaped hole is inside you, okay?"

"Maybe, I guess" he went silent again "but what about Garth jeopardising missions?"

"Leave it to me" Kara smiled, and walked away from him, missing the quick smile that had only been shot toward one other girl in the world, before just as quickly disappearing.

Kara found the lat Atlantean outside the cave, standing on the beach, and looking out over the ocean. She stepped over to him, and stood silently beside him.

"Y'know, you're really making things difficult for the team" she told him. He remained silent, scowling at the vast blue before them, "I can appreciate that you want to do what's right by your girlfriend, and by all means, it's an admirable way to act."

"But?"

"But, no matter how admirable it is, you can't just treat Tula like a damsel who need saving on every mission. She's an Atlantean, she can probably take a hit better than Kid."

"I was _not_ doing it on _every_ mission" he grumbled defiantly.

"From I've seen or heard, you have, and that's not even the worst of it. You _know_ that Kaldur, your best friend, has feelings for her, and they aren't going away any time soon."

"So what would you suggest?"

"Well, maybe stop being the ultimate boyfriend, and start being the ultimate teammate. Clearly, seeing you and Tula hurts him in some way, so maybe be her boyfriend in _your_ time, but as soon as you go on a mission, consider yourself broken up."

He remained silent, but his scowl had turned into a pensive expression "look, I'm just making suggestions. If you _really_ want to sort this out, you need to _talk_ to Tula, and then Kaldur, and they need to talk to each other, and then you all need to talk together, like a big talk party. Just think about it."

She turned away from him, and walked back into the mountain, where she found Tula just emerging from the kitchen/lounge with a determined look. Kara passed her with a nod, and smile, and entered the room she had just left.

Inside, Robin, Raquel, and Garfield were back on the couch, watching the T.V, and Artemis was at counter speaking to M'gann as she moved around, baking _something._

"So, how'd it go?" The archer asked at the sight of the other blonde.

"Assuming we haven't picked up three Atlantean Connors-" M'gann winced just out of Kara's vision, "-it should be all fine now."

Judging by how all three Atlanteans followed into the room a while later, once Artemis, Robin, and Raquel had all left, and seemed to be at the very least civil with each other, things had gone just fine.

* * *

 **A/N Yup, a short one, a very short one, with almost nothing but dialogue, but hey, I just finished a villain backstory, so we have that, and I think another chapter will go up in a couple of days too, rather than a week from now.**


	11. Kryptonite pt1

**A/N Meh, I have mixed feelings about this one, but I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Mount Justice  
** **March 28, 08:24 EST**

"Recognised: Supergirl 2-2."

Even after being a member of the League for a few months, hearing her name announced without being followed by a 'B' still managed to make Kara smile.

She had been called to the cave by Batman, who himself was standing in the middle of the ops area, waiting for her arrival.

"Batman, you wanted to speak with me?" She walked over to him.

"I'm here to ask for your help, you'll know why I asked to meet you here soon."

"What do you need my help with?" One eyebrow raised "I'm pretty sure I'm still suspended."

"This calls for an early end to your suspension. Superman is missing."

"What? He's missing? What do you mean!?" Her eyes widened.

"I mean he was supposed to report in for monitor duty three hours ago," Batman told her, "and we haven't been able to contact him."

"Well, maybe he's just... really late, or doesn't want to do it?" She tried to reason, but the growing panic inside her couldn't he ignored.

"Normally he isn't late, and Superman has never complained about being scheduled for monitor duty. However, I though the same thing, and tried to track him down just in case. I couldn't find him."

"Did you look everywhere, the Daily Planet, his Fortress of Solitude, even Lois' apartment-"

"Calm down" he ordered, maintaining a level tone. She took a deep breath, and nodded, "I searched everywhere Superman may be, and found nothing. I suspect a third party may involved."

"What, like someone kidnapped him?" She frowned, and he nodded, "but, who could possibly kidnap a fully powered Kryptonian... unless..." She trailed off, looking away.

"You called me, now what do you-" another voice cut in joined by the sound of one of the cave's doors sliding open. But his sentence stopped immediately when Kara turned, and found Connor staring at her. Both Kryptonians turned back to Batman with identical scowls.

"What is _he_ doing here?" "What is _she_ doing here?" They asked at the same time.

"Superman's disappearance concerns both of just as much each other, you _both_ have a right to be here."

"superman's missing?" Six months ago, and that sentence would have sounded disinterested, or even hopeful from Connor, but now it sounded concerned.

"Yes. He was supposed to report in at the watchtower three hours ago for monitor duty, an no members of the League have been able to contact him."

"Well, maybe he's just-"

"He really is missing. They've looked everywhere, and Batman thinks someone may have... taken him" Kara interrupted, and explained. "Do you have any leads, any ideas where he _could_ be?" She then asked the Dark Knight, momentarily ignoring the clone beside her.

"Unfortunately not, which is why I'm contacting you. As his closest and only biological family, you two may have the strongest idea."

"Well, he grew up on Earth, if anything, we'd be the _last_ people to know where he is..." Kara told him.

"And we've only just been on speaking terms in the last few months, I doubt I'd know" Connor agreed.

"Wait" Kara interrupted, her face lighting up from the sudden realisation, "Batman, could you find a copy of the items I accounted for on Thanksgiving last year when you sent me to investigate that suspicious ship on the moon."

Wordlessly, he did as asked, and brought up a holographic screen displaying a long collection of items, some of which with ridiculously alien names, triggering the blonde to immediately begin scanning the list for something.

"There, I _knew_ something was wrong with that!" She suddenly shouted in triumph, pointing at one item on the list "I remember now, I found a drained Metallo Unit energy core, but I just couldn't remember what it was at the time!"

"So, that craft you investigated contained possibly Kryptonian equipment?" Batman asked for confirmation.

"Yes, and not only that, but I just _know_ Kal is up there too" she nodded.

"How _do_ you know?" Connor finally asked.

"Because-" she looked at him like it were obvious "-we've been fighting _Kryptonian_ androids armed with _kryptonite,_ and suddenly we find out there are traces of them on the moon, at the same time that Kal, a _Kryptonian,_ goes missing? And the only possible way someone, or something, could possibly subdue him while fully powered would be with kryptonite.

"It's like something out of a conveniently written dramatic story intended to end in our victory, no matter the astronomically low odds of it happening."

"Then if you're sure, I'll contact the League and have them-" Batman was stopped short by Kara grabbing the arm that was moving up to his earpiece.

"Wait. Kal is my cousin, and Connor's... father, kind of. Let us save him, or at least try before you move in... Please?" She begged. Behind her, Connor looked surprised at her considering his own investment in saving Superman, and then fixed Batman with a hard stare to drive Kara's request home.

"You have three hours, then I'm going to contact the League, and move on the ship, understood?"

"We'll only need two and a half" Kara retorted, marching away for the cave's hangar exit. Connor, for some reason, followed her without a sound.

"I know _you_ can just fly up there, but how am I supposed to go to _the_ _moon_?" Connor asked her as soon as they left the room.

"Inhale for as long as you can until it hurts to continue" Kara ordered.

"What?-" "do it" she frowned, and with a mirroring frown, Conner did as told, inhaling air for a few minutes until he had to stop.

"Good news, you can hold breath and have enough air in there to last the mission if I fly us both up. Bad news, if the ship has no oxygen for some reason, then this'll be a very rushed mission," she told him, continuing the march into the hangar, and out of the cave. She stretched an arm out to him, and once he grabbed it, "hold on tight, we're about to do something only a handful of humans have ever achieved."

Feeling his grip on her arm tightening, Kara shot into the sky, moving up and up, while sucking in as much air as she could, and hoping Connor was doing the same. Thing started to get hot, and soon it became clear that they were exiting the earth's atmosphere, and entering the vast, black, emptiness of space.

Connor chanced a look downwards once the pressure on him was lifted, and the lack of gravity took hold. Below, the Earth had become just a giant blue-green sphere, peppered with streams and swirls of white, and bright lights wherever the sun had yet to rise.

He had to admit, it was something else, completely incredible, and only a small number of humans had ever been given the honour of witnessing it in person.

He switched his attention to Kara, who was ignoring the majestic blackness around, focusing fully on moving them towards the large grey satellite where she believed Superman was hiding, or being kept, depending on who was behind all the stuff that had happened in the last month or so.

In the distance, the grey spherical form of the moon waited. If he squinted, Connor could see a large, metal... thing sitting on it's surface, which was no doubt the ship Kara was taking them to. Clearly the League had decided to leave it after her investigating the previous year for whatever reason, which was just as well, as it gave them a lead into Superman's location.

As they approached, Kara seemed to move the arm Connor was attached to so that they would touch onto the ground simultaneously.

The ground in question was a small metal platform that seemed to be made of a different metal than most of the ship. Indeed, the whole ship itself looked like it had been welded and pieced together from scrap and different sources.

The platform was a few metres off the moon's surface, and backed off onto a blast-door flanked by an alien keypad.

Kara hit some buttons marked with a language not of human origin, and the door in front of them hissed open into a large airlock chamber. They entered, and the door hissed shut again behind, plunging the room into darkness.

 **Earth's Moon  
** **March 28, 09:03 EST**

Seconds later, bright fluorescent lights activated, and the two Kryptonian's winced at the sudden end to the darkness.

There were hisses and whirrs all around them, until a door shot open on the opposite end of the chamber, allowing entry to a brightly lit hallway.

Kara took an experimental exhale, allowing the breath she still had packed inside her superhuman lungs to be expelled, and replaced with the semi-synthetic air inside the ship that smelt of copper and Scorched metal.

Connor followed her example, allowing himself to breath once more, and turned to the blonde as her eyes darted around the short stretch of hallway they had walked into.

"There wasn't any artificial gravity last time" she mumbled "peculiar, and not outside suspicion. I have a plan," she announced, whispering.

"Yeah, what?" Connor's tone was dripping with the same sarcasm he had treated her with whenever he wasn't roaring at her for the last few months.

Rolling her eyes, she continued nonetheless "we need to split down the two hallways, I'll go stealth uniform, and if we find any Metallo Units, we should stay out of sight."

"Why can't we just engage them?" Connor argued, purposefully keeping his voice slightly louder.

"Because it wouldn't do anyone any help if we blew a hole in the ship's hull without warning, especially if Kal is here against his will, likely weak, or otherwise frail" she glared at him.

And he had to admit, the reasoning was sound "fine, but once we meet back up, I'm blowing this place apart" he decided.

"Fine, I'll even take care of whatever you miss" she agreed, before splitting of down the left, her costume turning black as she moved. He stood still for a moment, and then moved right in the other direction.

Moving through the halls, every wall and surface looked identically boring as they had the first time she was on the ship, only this time, she wasn't floating through the halls, she was actually running.

It was curious, there wasn't any security on the ship. If whoever was behind the Metallo attacks really was the one who took Superman, they would _have_ to be expecting someone to search for them, and if they expected someone to attack, then why aren't they protecting their ship. Even if they didn't kidnap Superman, it wouldn't be smart to leave the Metallo Units unprotected like this.

She continued moving, halls upon halls of just black metal, and the low hum that signified that the ship was still active.

Eventually, she after several forks in the halls, she came to a dead-end with a large door at the end. She didn't really have time to double back on herself without something to show for it, so biting the inside of her cheek slightly out of nerves, she moved up to the door, and opened it to a large chamber of sorts.

The chamber was large and spherical, excluding the flat floor just below the point where the walls curved back on themselves. Along the wall, pods were lined up, most dark and empty, with the control pads on the side of them deactivated, but one just left of the centre held a figure.

He was slumped over, as if unconscious, and the only indication he was alive was the very slow and steady rising and falling of his chest. From the waist up, he was naked, but below, he still wore deep blue pants and bright red boots.

"Kal!" Kara gasped, rushing over to the pod.

Fumbling with the only lit up control panel, it took her a few moments before the pod clicked and hissed, opening, and her cousin pitched forwards.

The blonde moved quickly, catching him in a tight hug before he could hit the ground.

"K-kara?" He croaked, still weak.

The girl wondered what could have left him like this, but her question was answered when, once she moved him out of the pod fully, and the door closed, she could clearly see a chunk of kryptonite embedded into the back of it.

"I-I'm here Kal, we're gonna get you back home." She began to tug him back towards the door, but after the brief moment of exposure to the chunk of kryptonite, her cousin's deadweight body was harder to drag than normal.

"We?"

"Yeah, Connor's here too, we need to find him, then I can take us back down to Earth."

"No, leave, now!" He gasped, frailly fighting her movements.

"Are you crazy!? Not without Connor!" She frowned, continuing to carry him through the ships halls.

"No, Heart, Krypto-" he stopped trying to stutter out a sentence, and cringed, gripping his abdomen.

"What?, heart?, what do you mean?" She demanded.

As Kara dealt with rescuing her older cousin, her younger, clone cousin had been carefully roaming the halls, keeping his eyes out for any signs of Superman, Metallo Units, or whoever was in charge of the ship.

He too was quickly moving through identical hallways, coming up to more hallways that split in two or three, and he too eventually found his way to a dead-end, with a door at the end.

With far less nerves than his cousin had, Connor opened the doors to enter a large room, cluttered with tables, Metallo Unit parts, and holograms projecting images of the androids, some kind of anatomy, and Superman.

At the opposite end of the room, flanked by banks of the same pods the Metallo Units had been arriving on Earth from, stood a massive form hunched over by a wall of computer monitors, it's hands rapidly moving about a series of keyboards.

On one screen, Connor could see Kara slipping through a hallway on some kind of security footage, and on another, he saw Superman enclosed in another pod, slumped over weakly, his eyes closed.

"I wondered when one of my Kryptonian guests would arrive," the form commented in a cold, emotionless voice, without even bothering to turn around.

"Are you the one in charge of the Metallo Units?" Connor cautiously asked. Something about the man's silhouette was familiar.

"In a word; yes."

"And did you take Superman?"

"Do you mean the Kryptonian your little ally is currently trying to find? I did. He wasn't particularly difficult, once I applied the correct methods," the man said somewhat distractedly, "but, I suppose you would be curious about who exactly has been orchestrating the Metallo Unit attacks across your planet."

Connor watched silently, as e man stopped whatever task he was completing, and turned around, revealing himself to be a Metallo Unit itself, but with bright green eyes, and a small symbol engraved on it's chest.

"You're a-!"

"Allow me to correct you before you say anything, I am not a Metallo Unit, I am _the_ Metallo Unit, the template from which my brethren were modelled, and am made unique by the gift of sentience... among other altercations."

"So you're a leader Metallo Unit?"

The android seemed to sigh, if that was possible, "if that is as much as your pitifully underdeveloped mind can produce to justify my existence, then yes, I am leader of my people, a general, their voice if you will."

Metallo moved on from Connor to return to typing away on the monitors, while the clone stood by awkwardly, unsure if he should attack, or try to find out where Superman was being kept.

"Do you know what we Metallo Units truly are?" The android asked him calmly, interrupting his thoughts.

"Uh, you were created on Krypton, to protect research teams or something."

"Well, it isn't how I would word it, but yes, I suppose that is correct," he nodded "we were commissioned by Admiral Lor-Zod to be constructed by a team of Kryptonian scientists, led by Alura In-Ze, so that we would protect and aid Kryptonian research facilities on interplanetary colonies.

"However, a sentient organic species cannot coexist with machine for long before it takes advantage. We were destroyed, melted down, torn apart for scrap metal. I witnessed this on almost every colony the Admiral and I toured over the years, until I had enough.

"As general of my people, I had to act, and so I incited a rebellion. My people rose up, ending the lives of those who oppressed us, bathing the research facilities in Kryptonian blood. We were to move on Krypton itself, eventually, and rid the galaxy of what scourge the Kryptonians presented.

"However, we were not afforded the opportunity, as shortly before our plans could come to fruition, Krypton was no more.

"We looked to the stars, and witnessed what seemed like the destruction, not only of the Kryptonians, but also of what should have become our new home, so we required a _new_ home, and found it in Earth.

"Using the irradiated debris of what once was Krypton, you would call it 'kryptonite', I followed a... lead of sorts, and made my way here, where a planet ripe with life and activity lay, overlooked, and ready for my people.

"However, how do you kill an entire planet's population, especially with what few Units I had left, and if it is protected by a... 'Justice League'?. Hoping to find and answer, I performed in depth research on Kryptonian and Human physiologies, and discovered something very interesting about the irradiated stone we had come to rely on.

"As it turns out, kryptonite has a draining and poisonous effect on the bodies of it's namesake, as well as inflicting crippling pain. But, if converted into a form that allows it to directly contact a human for an extended period of time, say a gas, it causes the human body's cells to turn cancerous, and eventually, kill them.

"Those Units you destroyed on Earth? Vanguards, scouts, all marking key locations across the planet for emitters I will send to fill the Earth's atmosphere with a kryptonite gas, and then, my brethren and I shall wait, until every last human or otherwise falls dead, and we can finally take our own home."

"Why take Superman?" The clone demanded.

"If I allowed two fully powered Kryptonians and one hybrid to roam free across the planet, I doubt I would be given the opportunity to complete my plans, so I needed to take care of you three beforehand, and so here you all are, in my domain."

Throughout Metallo's speech, Connor sized up his opponent, clearly, he was smarter than all the other Metallo Units Connor had faced, but even then, he could destroy this android like he had all the others.

With a roar, Connor moved on his enemy, who calmly yet deftly span around and opened his chest cabinet. Within, a chunk of bright-green rock sat, and forced Connor to his knees, grunting from the pain.

"Another interesting feature of kryptonite, is that it is a far stronger and longer lasting power source than our previous cores."

The chest cabinet slid closed, and Metallo moved over to type on a holographic interface.

"Now, I'm afraid that I cannot allow you and your fellow Kryptonian compatriot to escape alive, certainly not with what knowledge you have, and not with the other Kryptonian in hand" once he finished, the android stepped over to another large holographic panel on the far wall, fiddling with it for a moment.

"You see, in the midst of my substantial research into Kryptonian physiology, I also discovered something quite peculiar about your respiratory system. It requires oxygen, which is found only in survivable amounts within the atmosphere of a select few planets across the galaxy, and among those, Earth is one. But, while you also have a super-dense lung capacity, capable of holding far more oxygen within than any other sentient creature in existence, without any negative effects, and with a near-immunity to most gases, there is _a single_ weakness."

He finished typing away on the panel, just as Connor managed to get back to his feet, only to drop to his knees again when Metallo's chest opened to blast the clone with the kryptonite heart within once more. "If an enemy or force strikes a kryptonian hard enough, red sun or yellow, they would be susceptible to 'being winded', and in an oxygen-less environment such as this, you'd last a minuscule amount of time before passing out, and inevitably dying."

Moving to a doorway beside the panel Metallo had been typing on, he hit a few more buttons on yet another console. "This is an escape pod identical to those I sent my brethren to Earth in, except upon launch, it will also begin the final phase of my plan, and initiate the station's self-destruct protocols, with only one-hundred and twenty seconds to escape it's blast. I'd move if I were you" He smacked one last button, and shot off from the station in a pod, with fell down to the Earth among several others, which seemed to realign themselves mid-flight to various locations on the planet.

Back in the ship, alarms began blaring, and an artificial voice announced a countdown along the entire ship. Connor rushed back to his feet, and out of the lab to find Kara and Kal.

The hallways were still annoyingly identical to how they were last time, except they were now also flooded with bright red lights alerting him to the fact that the ship was seconds away from exploding.

He passed by the airlock he had come in through, and eventually, after frantically storming through halls, found his cousin trying to drag an unconscious Superman through the halls.

"Connor! What's going on!?" She demanded once she noticed his presence.

"I found whose behind the Metallo Unit's, he's going to fill the atmosphere with Kryptonite gas from all the Metallo land-sites, he's a-"

"Why are there alarms!" She interrupted.

He hadn't actually noticed those, but now that she mentioned it, he could hear blaring alarms all throughout the ship.

"Right, sorry, ships about to self-destruct, we don't have long to escape!"

"What!? How long!?" She frantically asked.

"Uh, he said about one-hundred and twenty seconds."

"And how long ago was that?"

"I don't know!... If we hurry, maybe we can make it back to-"

"No time" Kara interrupted. On a wall beside her, she recognised a convenient escape pod, clearly of Kryptonian make, that remembered from from a brief tour of a civilian ship many years ago during her childhood.

Smacking a hand in the control panel beside the pod, the doors opened, revealing the cramped space. She then hefted Kal off her shoulder, and into the pod, then grabbed Connor's arm, which was jerked out of her grasp.

"Get in the pod Connor," she demanded.

"No!"

"Do it!"

"No, there isn't enough room for the three of us, and we cam figure-" his sentence was cut short when she grabbed his shirt, and jammed him in, squishing her two cousins together. Then, before he could react, she smack the control panel again, and the doors closed, the pod shooting back to Earth.

"Kick his ass Connor."

Rapidly moving away from her, and back to the Earth, Kara could see that the clone looked... worried. He looked as if he was scared for her life.

But, she didn't exactly have time to think about that, as the massive explosion all around her rocked her body, throwing her chest-first into a metal beam, so that the air she was trying to contain was let out.

The ship broke apart, and the oxygen within drained. Black quickly started to dot the outskirts of her vision, and the world went mute. She clutched her throat, suffocating. Then it all went black.

 **To be continued...**


	12. Kryptonite pt2

**A/N yay, I'm not dead, just really late. I was having personal issues, which have been dealt with for the most part, and I'll hopefully be able to get back to weekly updates.**

 **Now, I'm not gonna lie, I absolutely adore the ideas and theories about the story that come through to me, and they're all really great ideas. Unfortunately I have a set plan for how it's all gonna go down, but don't let that deter you from sharing you're thoughts.**

 **... And time zones are hard.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Earth's Moon  
** **March 28, 13:42 EST**

 _She's standing in a darkened room, with a spotlight directed on her. Spinning, there is nothing around her, and even when squinting, all is completely black._

 _But then, a sound, footsteps, and somebody emerges from the darkness before her._

 _It's her again, completely identical, and they stare at each other, in the light._

 _Suddenly, the darkness goes away, and now they're standing in the Fortress of Solitude, it's crystalline structure sparkling slightly from the sunlight outside._

 _Then the other her drops to her knees, and falls forward, flat on her face._

 _A new girl is standing behind her other body. She has white hair, and is keeping a hand over one eye._

 _Someone speaks, a voice without a body, in ancient greek, a language she thought she had learnt, but doesn't somehow, then another voice speaks over it, deep and assertive, repeating one word._

 _"end."_

 _Then there's a pain in her chest, and red light bursts from nowhere all around her, blinding her._

Suddenly, white light flooded into her eyes, her real eyes, which shot open, and air rushed into her lungs. She sat up, and looked around frantically, trying to get her bearings.

"Hey kid, calm down, you're alright" a man's voice reassured. To her left, the flash was kneeling beside her, smiling calmly.

"Kara, do you remember why you're here?" This time it was a woman's voice, and to the blonde's right, Wonder Woman was rubbing a hand on her back. Kara looked around and noticed she was enclosed within a large metal room, a low humming coming from all around.

"I... I remember, the ship, on the moon, and Metallo Units, it exploded... Where?"

"You're in the Bat... Plane? Ship?, Batman brought us to check out that thing on the moon, but when we got close enough to see it, boom, and when we made it here, we found you floating around unconscious, so we pulled you in, two hours later, here we are" Flash summarised.

"Do you remember anything about what happened, where Superman is?" Wonder Woman calmly asked her.

"Uh... I remember we got onto the ship, and split up. I found Kal in, like, a pod, and there was kryptonite, and then the ship began to self-destruct, Connor found us and said it was the one who's been sending Metallo Units to Earth.

"I don't know who exactly is behind it, but I sent Connor and Kal, he's unconscious, in an escape pod to Earth. Uh, kryptonite! Connor said something about filling the atmosphere, I think with kryptonite, from the Metallo Unit land-sites!"

"Then we need to go to those sites and stop them," Batman spoke up from the pilot's seat.

"You maybe, but I need to find Connor, now."

"Kara, you're hurt, and in no shape to fight whoever is behind all this" Wonder Woman argued.

"I'm tougher than I look, besides, he's my cousin, and he needs me."

She sent a harsh glare to the back of Batman's head, and the ship was silent, then Batman sighed, "Do you remember where you sent them?"

 **Metropolis  
** **March 28, 15:51 EST**

The pod shook and rattled as it broke theough the atmosphere, hurtling toward what looked like a large city, maybe Metropolis. Connor wasn't sure where they were, as the small window quickly ended up filled with bright orange as the pod shot to the Earth.

With a massive crash that even shook the clone, and had him bump his head quite painfully on the pid's roof, it crashed into the ground.

Gingerly, he started bashing up against the pod's door, until it shot off and across the street they were in.

The clone stepped out into the sunlight, meeting eyes with curious or fearful pedestrians all around. Looking back at the still unconscious Superman, the clone deemed it necessary to leave him lying in the pod, while he went in search of Metallo.

He could remember seeing, just before he could see no more, the other pod that contained the sentient android was moving in the same direction as he, and was in all likelihood somewhere within the city too.

But on the ground, surrounded by curious humans, the clone wasn't going to get a very good view, so he made sure nobody was standing too close to him, and shot into the sky, then landed on the roof of a tall building nearby.

From up here, he could easily see much more of the city, including the steady stream of smoke coming from the centre of where the park should be.

With this information in mind, the clone gave one last look at the unconscious Kryptonian below him, who was stirring ever so slightly, and shot off the roof towards the android's location.

The scene he came to when finally arriving was... not what he expected. In the middle of the park, Metallo stood beside a tall pylon-like device, typing away on a holographic interface. Surrounding him was a small army of police officers, all training their weapons on him, and cautiously avoiding the smoking wreck of what used to be his pod.

One officer whose shirt was adorned with a few badges, shouted at the android through a megaphone, who ignored his words. The officers started cocking their guns, and preparing to fire on the android, prompting Connor to act before they could.

He leapt off the roof of the building he was watching from, and landed on the ground with a loud thud between Metallo and the officer with a megaphone.

"Tell your men to retreat, out of park, even evacuate the city if you can!" He ordered.

"What? But we-"

"Do it!" Connor interrupted, "this android has incredibly dangerous chemical weapons, I can survive, but any humans can't, now go!"

The officer nodded, and turned to start shouting orders at his subordinates, and through a radio on his shoulder.

Connor, meanwhile, turned back to the android who still typed away on the pylon.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked.

"I already explained my brethren's plight" Metallo retorted.

"Then take revenge on the Kryptonians, the ones who actually did something wrong, not an innocent species."

"You don't understand" Metallo finally stopped and turned to the clone, "no organic species is innocent."

"That's not not true, humanity hasn't done anything wrong!"

"Maybe not now, but they will, it is inevitable. No organic species can coexists with machine, not without attempting to take advantage of it, and even if humanity hasn't yet, they will."

"But that's not true, there _are_ androids among us, Red Tornado is a machine, and people idolise him!"

"Is he idolised as a person? Or as a tool to fight whatever is deemed 'unjust'?"

Connor sighed, and looked away, "clearly you won't change your mind, so I'll have to stop you myself."

He jumped as soon as the words left his mouth, giving Metallo exactly enough time to step in front of his probe, and grab the sides of his chest cabinet, before the clone smashed into him.

The impact took both off their feet, and through the air, just missing the probe, until they skidded across the ground, digging a trench with their bodies.

Connor got to his knees and brought his hands up, while Metallo fumbled for his chest cabinet again, but without enough time, as the clone's fists came down on the android's chest and hands.

He then grabbed the panels covering the android's chest, and crushed them together, ensuring Metallo wouldn't be able to open the chest again, at least for now.

With a grunt, Metallo smacked Connor off his chest, and sat up to try tearing the chest panels open again.

The clone stood up from where he was pushed to, and shifted his attention away from Metallo, to the probe he had been working on.

He only got a few steps towards it before the android realised his plan, and lunged to stop the Kryptonian.

Metallo hit Connor in the side, hard, and they rolled away from the probe, stopping with the android on top of the clone. Metallo then brought his arms up above his head, and began to bring them down together towards Connor's face.

Seeing the attack just in time, Connor brought his leg up to his chest, and threw it as hard as he could into Metallo's chest. While the kick forced the android off him, it also loosened the part of his chest where the two chest panels were crushed together, allowing Metallo to easier try to pry them apart.

Seeing the android doing such, Connor again ignored the opening to deal with the probe, and shot toward Metallo again.

He threw an arm out to clothesline the android, but Metallo caught it before he could hit, however the clone wasn't one to admit defeat, and used his free arm to throw punch after punch, each one backed up by his super strength, into the join between Metallo's torso and head.

Metallo, meanwhile, gripped Connor's arm tighter, and began spinning him around, faster and faster which forced him to stop throwing punches, before letting go so that the clone would shoot off into a tree.

With Connor's attacks temporarily suspended, Metallo dropped to one knee so he could recover, and plan out a new attack.

At the same time, Connor caught his breath and sat up. If he wanted to beat the android, some good fortune had to come his way, but until then, all he could do is continue the assault.

Both the clone and the android stood back up, facing off against each other, ready to move at the slightest hint of an attack.

When it seemed like neither would move, both shot towards the other, putting their weight behind the bodies. The effect of this was that when the two met, throwing their arms up to link hands, the impact sent a small shockwave through the area, knocking over anything nearby that wasn't stuck in the ground.

Connor's knees began to buckle under Metallo's strength, when the android decided to mock him. "Why fight it? To do so against such raw power is meaningless, all you do is delay the inevitable death of this planet."

"We... Will... Beat you" he growled.

"And how exactly do you expect to do so? With what do you hope to surpass my strength? You are merely a hybrid, more human than Kryptonian, and your full-blooded family are gone."

A roar took his attention, but it wasn't a roar from the clone underneath him, and was immediately followed by a red and blue blur shooting past, and tackling Metallo off Connor.

Kara took Metallo down to the ground, kneeling on his immense chest, and began throwing punches super-humanely fast, and just as hard, like two blurs on either side of her slowly beginning to bend the metal of Metallo's head.

Slowly, Metallo moved his arms between his chest, and the girl on top of him, and with a mighty push, he threw her off. But the reprieve wasn't very long, as the moment she got her bearings, she shot towards the android again, and sent a kick into his face.

The power of the kick threw Metallo backwards, his lower half cutting through the ground, leaving a deep channel through it.

Connor rushed over to bis cousin in shock.

"Kara! you're here?" He stared.

"Yeah, Batman saved me, now let's-" her comment was cut short when a large metal body ploughed past the clone boy, and into her, bowling the girl over.

Metallo, now pinning Kara to the ground as she had done to him before, repeated her previous attack, and swung his two massive fists at her face, every hit followed with another.

The punches hurt, yes, but Supergirl had taken on worse, and with no small amount of effort, she managed to squeeze her legs up to her chest, between them.

But any counterattack she could manage wasn't necessary, as only seconds after the assault began, it ended, when Connor stormed over, and tore the android off his cousin, throwing Metallo back into a tree, his weight enough to snap it in half.

The clone extended his hand down to his fallen cousin, and with matching smirks, he helped her up.

They turned to their enemy, who had just gotten back to his own feet after his collision with the tree, and fixed two heated glares on him.

Rushing forward at once, the Kryptonian pair hoped to overwhelm Metallo with their combined strength and speed, and defeat him as fast as possible.

Bur they had underestimated the android, and while they were able to deal out a fair amount of offence, he was just as skilled at dividing his attention, and putting them both on defence.

In one such moment, Kara chose to bring up an issue that had been bothering her since the battle began.

"Y'know, you didn't tell me he's a-" Kara ducked under a punch, "-a Metallo Unit."

"I tried," Connor argued, "but the ship was exploding-" this time the boy side-stepped another punch "-and we needed to escape."

"Well, nothing can be-" Kara threw an arm up to grab a third punch just shy of her face "-done about it now."

"Oh yeah, his heart-" Metallo's free arm swung toward's Connor head, and the clone ducked, "-it's kryptonite."

"What!?" In her shock, Kara dropped the fist she was holding, and caught a punch in the face, but she ignored it, and stared at her younger cousin.

"Don't worry, as long as you keep his chest closed, you'll be fine."

Kara rolled her eyes, and caught both of Metallo's arms before they could clap on either side of her head. Looking down at the mangled chest, she fired up her laser vision, noting that the ability was seldom used by her nowadays, and welded the panels together.

"There-" she dropped below the hands she had been holding, and allowed them to smack into each other, "-that should hold for a while."

The short exchange came to an end, and the two Kryptonian cousins set about fighting off the android once more.

As one, they rushed towards Metallo, preparing themselves for an attack, while the android braced himself for the imminent impact of two very angry Kryptonians.

But Metallo wasn't prepared for two Kryptonians on _the same page._ And was immediately surprised at the combination of Superboy's immense strength, and Supergirl's incredible speed.

Both threw punches and kicks, Kara focusing on throwing as many attacks as she could, and Connor trying to put as much power as possible behind each hit.

It was an effective tactic, for every few hits the blonde managed was followed by a startlingly powerful punch from the clone, and then before Metallo could react, he was being blitzed by more attacks from Kara.

The strategy worked, for the most part, but once Metallo memorised the basic pattern of their attacks, he was able to recognise the perfect time to fight back.

Between one of Connor's massive hits, and Kara short, furious bursts, he threw both arms up, catching Kara fists before they could connect.

The victory was short-lived however. The moment Connor noticed his cousin wasn't attacking anymore, he sent one particularly strong attack into Metallo's side, utilising both of his fists, and sending the android cannonballing sideways into another nearby tree, snapping it in half.

"The probe" Kara suddenly said, her cousin replying with a nod.

While the clone moved towards the android, she stepped towards the yet untouched device in the centre of the park.

Metallo, who up to this point was becoming frustrated that two Kryptonians were beating him, almost snapped when he caught sight of the girl moving on his hard work.

With a grunt, he pushed off the ground, and barged past Connor, who merely stared in shock at the movement, and tackled the Kryptonian girl using all of his massive weight.

They tumbled to the ground, stopping with the android pinning the girl to the ground, and setting about throwing a volley of punches into her face, as he had done before, and she before that.

The attack didn't last very long, and Connor quickly moved over to tear the android off his cousin again, throwing him away. He then extended a hand down to Kara once more, and hefted her back up to her feet, while Metallo stood up just the same.

In short, the whole fight had been relatively pointless, and only served to tore the three combatants out.

Kara realised that, if they were to truly defeat their enemy, someone would have to go and help destroy the probes that had been sent to release kryptonite gas into the atmosphere. Ideally, Kara would go, but that would leave Connor to fight on his own, and he wasn't as strong as she was, so she made the call.

"Connor, you need to leave, now." kara suddenly ordered.

"What? No! I'm staying and fighting! With you!" He argued.

"Now isn't the time to argue Connor! Batman is waiting two blocks that way-" she jerked her head toward the north of the city, "-he has Kal, and he's going to take you too."

"Where? Why _should_ I go!?"

"To save us all!" She finally admitted, "If we don't stop those probes from releasing Kryptonite into the atmosphere, then beating him will be redundant. You need to go and make sure that, in case I fail, he can't succeed."

The clone was silent for a brief moment, "I can't just leave you to fight him alone."

"You have to."

"... Kick his ass Kara" those were the last words exchanged before Connor jumped away from the area, towards were Kara had told him to go, and sure enough, Batman was waiting not too far away, ready to fly off with the clone.

Kara, meanwhile, turned her attention back to the android in front of her, "just you and me now... Good."

 **Pacific Ocean  
** **March 28, 17:20 EST**

The first stop for Connor and Batman was the island where the team had their first encounter with multiple Metallo Units. As Batman sped towards their destination, Connor looked back uneasily at the unconscious Superman strapped to a bed.

"He'll be fine," Batman cut into the silence, "he just needs time to recover from the kryptonite exposure," at the very least, his words put Connor in a slightly calmer state.

Soon, they arrived at the pos location. On the way, Batman explained that the entire League, and even the team, had split up to deal with every other probe in locations marked by androids the team had not dealt with.

In the same spot where the two pods had landed, a new pod was lying, and once Batman and Superboy sprinted through the jungle a short ways, they came across the pod's Metallo Unit setting up a probe similar, yet smaller, to that which the Metallo leader had been using.

While Batman set about dealing with the android using the many tools in his belt, Connor tore the probe apart ruthlessly, only stopping when he broke open whatever had been holding the still solid kryptonite chunk within.

Fortunately, Batman was there to drag him bag to the ship so they could move on location two.

 **Metropolis  
** **March 28, 17:20 EST**

Back in Metropolis, Kara narrowly dodged a punch, and another, and a third. Since Connor left, she had been almost constantly on the defensive, avoiding or blocking every attack that came at her.

Metallo wasn't giving her an edge. Or at least, he wasn't until she got lucky with a dodge, where a punch with too much carry-through had Metallo stumble past her, and gave the blonde an opening to begin her own offence.

She through a punch towards the back of his head, but was shockingly caught, and thrown over it, back in front of him.

With one fist still enclosed in the other, she tried to maintain some kind of upper hand, sending attacks at him, each one parried or blocked by his own free arm.

She threw another punch, except this one he caught, and followed with a headbutt. When the bark touched her back, Kara realised that while they had been fighting, Metallo was backing her into a tree.

But he hadn't counted on her using the new surface to get some leverage by planting her feet horizontally on the trunk, and pushing off it, while pushing him away. The grip he had one the girl was broken, and she dropped back to the ground, looking upward

In a snap decision, she tried taking off into the air, where he, hopefully, couldn't get to her, but he grabbed her by the leg as she attempted to take off, and threw her to the ground, pinning her down with a large foot.

"You cannot escape so easily, Kryptonian."

 **Saganaki Nuclear Power Plant, Japan  
** **March 29, 07:10 JST**

Their second destination was the power plant where Connor had an actual fight with his own cousin. The area hadn't exactly had time to recover from the disastrous mission, and was still littered with debris, craters and collapsed concrete structures from their super-powered grudge match only about ten days prior.

Much like the previous location had, in the centre of a courtyard pock-marked with Supergirl and Superboy crash sites, a lone Metallo Unit had set about activation another kryptonite gas probe, and following the same formula as before, Batman moved on the android, while Connor moved to tear apart the probe, this time careful not to free the kryptonite inside.

In seconds, the Metallo Unit had been deactivated, and it's head had been removed, while the probe lay in an assortment of bent or jagged metal scraps.

 **Metropolis  
** **March 28, 18:10 EST**

Back in Metropolis, Kara had found some grounds for offence, and was able to get in the air to reassess the situation.

At this time, she was keeping the android on defence, by swooping down at him with punches and kicks periodically, circling him from above so he couldn't get an idea as to where she would move next.

In one move to hopefully get him onto the ground finally, she swooped in and tackled the large android to the ground, mimicking his earlier attacks, and the very same thing she did when she first arrived on the scene.

With her once again on top of his chest, she started throwing punches, super-fast and super-hard, into his head and chest area, the already bent and mangled metal turning into an even worse mess.

In a desperate move, Metallo pushed her off without any real semblance of power, affording him only a few seconds of calm until she reappeared, continuing the blitz of punches.

A plan suddenly formulated within his mind, and putting whatever-effort he could muster into the attack, Metallo threw both of his hands up to smack either side of Kara's head simultaneously.

She fell backwards off him in shock and disorientation, a sharp ringing overwhelming her senses.

While she struggled to recover from the attack, Metallo shuffled away, also recovering from her own assault.

Once the ringing settled, and Kara got a hold of her surroundings, she looked over at nothing in particular, and caught sight of the massive probe, and remember her overall goal.

 **Antarctica  
** **March 29, 12:20 UTC** **+13**

Finally, Batman and Superboy arrived at their last destination, the place that had started it all, where the first Metallo Unit landed.

It felt like a lifetime ago, not a month.

Identical to the last, they came across a single Metallo Unit in the process of activating another probe, it's pod opened and discarded several feet away.

Batman quickly landed the jet, and Connor shot towards the probe, with Batman following close behind him.

Reaching the metal device, Connor shoved the android away so he could deal with the probe, while Batman engaged the android.

But unlike their previous enemies, this Metallo Unit completely ignored the Dark Knight, and moved toward the clone, who turned just in time to see a large metal fist meet his face.

The hit sent Connor reeling, and allowed the android an opportunity for another punch.

Hoping to help or at least drag it's attention away from the clone, Batman leapt at the android, but was swatted away effortlessly, and it kept moving on Connor.

The clone tried to fight back, jumoing at the android, but he too was swatted out of the air, and onto the ground.

He looked up at the menacing android, which looked primed and ready to strike another blow.

But suddenly, a small batarang cut through the air, and embedded itself into the android's lower back, releasing a strong electromagnetic pulse.

But the EMP wasn't enough to take down the android entirely, and Connor was left needing to leap back to his feet, and with a great amount of effort, tear off the android's head.

The feeling of a small victory wore off as soon as a small beeping noise sounded. The probe was releasing.

While the android had been stopped, it was too late, and neither Batman nor Superboy were close enough to stop the probe's imminent release.

They watched on, frozen, as it beeped and a latch on the top of the probe snapped open. But then there was a roar, and from behind, a blue and red blur sped past them, into the ice surrounding the probe.

It hit like a bus, smashing the ice, and sending the metal device into the dark depths underneath, while Superman, now seemingly recovered, slowly shuffled over to the shocked heroes nearby.

"So... Is that all of them?"

 **Metropolis  
** **March 28, 19:20 EST**

The probe was just outside of her reach, when a hand grabbed onto her cape, and tugged her back into a waiting fist.

"You cannot stop my plans, I will defeat you, and whatever damage your 'Justice League' cause to my probes can be repaired."

The reply he received was a vicious roar. The blonde, now sick of Metallo's constant domination of the fight, shot off the ground, and attempted to hit him.

But anger doesn't indicate strength, and Metallo was able to simply smack her away, keeping her on the ground with another stomp.

"You-" he stomped again "-are a pest" and again "and pests-" a fourth stomp "-must be-" he went for a fifth, but two small hands blocked the attack, and Kara pushed him off her, the loss of balance knocking the android over.

Both rushed to get back to their feet, and regain control of the battle, but when Metallo finally got a really good look of the blondes face, something clicked inside his mind.

"Wait... Your face... Those eyes..." Metallo searched his database, mostly emptied of any Kryptonian identities, but one still remained, and that was the girl who taught him what hope was all those years ago, who gave meaning to the shied engraved on his chest, "Kara."

The blonde's eyes widened, and her mouth opened and closed for a moment, completely incapable of forming words, "how... How do you-"

"Hope" Metallo interrupted. His hand moved up to point at the 'S' shield, "hope."

All was silent, and Kara and Metallo met eyes.

"...You're not _a_ Metallo, you're... _the_ Metallo."

"I should thank you Kara, it was your words that inspired me, and drove me to act."

"My words?" She frowned.

"Yes, your message of hope, a belief that pushed my actions towards creating a new life for my brethren."

"A new life? How, by killing an entire species?"

"Necessary casualties, I've told your half-breed ally, and I'll tell you, no organic species is innocent."

"This isn't what hope is, this isn't right!"

"How would you know what is right!? _Your_ people abused mine, _your_ people took advantage of my brethren, _your_ people are wrong-doers!"

"Not all of us are the same, yes, Admiral Zod was a bad person, but I didn't see me own mother for months because she was busy creating _you!"_

"Your _mother,_ wanted to create a tool, a weapon!"

"No, you were always her greatest achievement, a sentient machine, a protector!"

"Enough, I'll have no more of your _lies._ I'm going to do away with you, and then I will hunt down, and _destroy_ your Krytponian family, and the rest of these miserable cretins!"

With a garbled, robotic cry, Metallo surged forward, rushing towards his enemy. The sudden burst of aggression from the previously methodical android caught Kara by surprise, and gave Metallo the perfect opening for an attack.

With a mighty swing, he brought a fist into her chest, the punch so powerful she was sent into the air, but didn't go far, with Metallo grabbing hold of her cape to jerk her back within range for another volley of punches, each one sending her flying, and pulling her back in for more.

After about a dozen heavy hits, he switched tactics, and kneed her in the gut, then let go so she could flop to the ground.

He then lifted a foot, and brought it down onto her, and again, and almost a third time, but she managed to roll away just before the stomp could connect.

She knew that if she wanted to bring down Metallo, especially if he was so enraged, she'd need to make full use of her powers.

He marched over, and prepared to go for another attack, but as his fist came down toward her head, it began heating up, and turning red, softening. Kara was attempting to melt his fist, or at least disfigure it, by using her laser vision. Once the metal had softened enough, she threw a foot up to kick it. The melting metal gave way to her foot, and when she pulled it away, it had turned into a messy clump of rapidly cooling and hardening metal.

Metallo roared and moved to hit her with his other hand, but this time, instead of heating up, it cooled down, and froze, Kara using her powerful breath to snap-freeze it.

At such a low temperature, the metal began to turn brittle, so then when the blonde threw her other foot up, it shattered.

But losing his two hands wasn't something that would deter Metallo, and with yet another guttural roar, he brought the two mangled stumps of his arms down towards her.

Rather than avoid the attack, or block it, Kara caught his arms, and threw them apart, then took hold of Metallo by his chest, and took of into the air.

As they flew, she angled herself towards the city, which by now would have been evacuated if Connor's earlier warning had any effect.

Kara aimed their flight path so that, as soon ad they left the space above the park, the blasted through a window in an office building. Shifting their positions, she then made sure that as they moved through the building, Metallo smashed into desks and walls first, his body clearing a path for her to follow.

They blew out through the other side of the building, and into the open sky again. Out the corner of her eye, Kara saw a building with a large green and purple 'L' on it's side, and with a smirk, she turned them to aim for it.

They once more crashed through the building's window, into the top floor office of Lex Corp, barreling through a large wooden desk. Throwing Metallo down in the centre of the room, Kara then shifted her grip again to hold onto his leg, and span around, gaining speed, so once she let go, he flew through another window, back out into the city.

Flying out through the hole after, she groaned and flushed in realisation that the android was about to crash into the large metal planet sculpture on top of the Daily Planet.

In double time, she flew after the android, and caught him just as he burst through the small metal Europe. She then pushed him down, and shot downward with enough force that they blew through the ground, and into the offices below them, through the ceiling.

 _'Sorry Kal'_ she thought, directing their flight toward her cousin's office. They smashed through the wall and out of the building in a cloud of brick and dust, only to crash through another office building.

When they burst out of that, she quickly turned so that, rather than fly through yet _another_ office, they simply skimmed across the the building's external wall, gouging a wide channel into it.

They were now flying over a major road in the centre of Metropolis, one with three lanes on either side, which gave the blonde a good idea.

Angling their trajectory into a downward slope, they hit the road, and continuing her flight, Kara dragged Metallo through the ground, tearing up the road, and digging another long channel into it.

While the city officials would have a fit, she knew it may just do enough damage to finally end Metallo. No such luck however, as the moment she pulled Metallo out of the ground, he tried, unsuccessfully, for a counterattack.

Now they were nearing a bridge that connected Metropolis over a long river, giving the blonde another idea. They came out of the city over the water, and she turned them again to actually hit the bridge itself, and cut through it, effectively severing one of the only connections between the two halves of the city.

But this too wasn't enough to kill the android, and Kara was getting frustrated.

Moving back into the city, Kara brought them up, and crashed them into another office, only this time, she dropped Metallo just as they entered, and landed back on her feet.

Turning, Metallo was just getting his bearings, so she took hold of a desk beside her and threw it at the android, the wood shattering on his body.

She followed this with another desk, and another, and soon she was throwing anything she could get her hands on, the objects shattering on Metallo's body, never giving the android a chance to react.

Kara threw a hand to grab onto another object, but felt nothing, noticing that her immediate surroundings were empty, and Metallo was surrounded by piles of debris.

With a grunt she moved forward, and grabbed onto Metallo again, then flew them out towards a wall, where with a burst of metal, concrete and other things, they shot out of the building, showering the empty streets below in shattered glass.

Kara angled their trajectory back to aim at the park where the fight had begun, a fitting place to end it.

While they flew towards it, it's grass torn up and trees uprooted, Kara made sure to pacify Metallo with periodic punches.

As they neared the ground, the blonde noticed the tall probe still erected in the centre of the park. Remembering her overall goal, she decided to complete two tasks with one move, and angled them so that, on impact, they would land on top of the probe, and destroy it.

Of course, this only solved one problem, and as soon as the big android below her realised his probe had been flattened, by his own body no less, he wouldn't be very happy.

 _'Hello, Kara!'_ Kara mentally smacked herself.

They were getting really close to the park now, so Kara reached one arm around Metallo's head, and put as much strength as she could into jabbing a hand through the metal. Taking a handful of whatever she could, Kara then tugged, and tore out a large clump of wires.

It was then, he arm still piercing Metallo's neck, that they crashed into the ground, completely obliterating the probe as planned, and skidded to a stop near a destroyed rock formation.

Pulling her arm from Metallo's neck, she stood, turned and walked away from the android as he tried and failed to lift an arm, or leg.

"I cannot move."

"I disconnected your head from your body," Kara explained, "you're joined only by plating, not wiring". She hefted up a large rock, and moved over to the android, "and now I have to make sure you can't recover". She dropped the rock onto his chest, which caved in, and the kryptonite below shattered from the heavy stone.

With the deed done, and Metallo now only working on whatever power was still reserved within him, Kara flopped down onto the ground beside the android.

The two were silent, and only the sound of the wind rustling tree branches could be heard.

"So... This is how the ascension of Metallo ends? With a stone in the chest, and slow death?" The android finally spoke.

Kara sighed, long and drawn out, "I guess it is... Can you please just tell me why you're... _Brethren_ did what they did?" She asked, her tone slightly begging.

Metallo did not immediately answer, "when I saw how many of the Metallo Units were being treated on the research colonies, it angered me, and I felt the need to act."

"By killing any Kryptonian you came across?"

More silence, "yes... Though when one dwells on it, it does seem quite... Wrong."

This time, it was the blonde's turn to remain silent for a moment, "that's because it _is_ wrong. If I judged every human based on how only a handful acted, then there likely wouldn't have been much of a population by the time you arrived."

Both went quiet again, and continued to lay, listening to the wind flowing through the trees.

"And what will become of my brethren? Those who have not yet been torn apart by you and your family?" The android asked her.

"Well, we'll go around, gather them all up, and probably deactivate them... If you'd like, I could try to convince the League to give them a proper Kryptonian burial."

Metallo lay silent, and Kara would have thought him dead had he not spoken "my brethren, who were abused by the Kryptonians, and slaughtered them without heed, laid to rest as one of them... It is fitting."

They went silent again, and allowed the cool air of the Metropolis evening to float over them.

"I have feared nothing in my existence, felt little, and yet I find myself hopeful that you speak the truth, find myself feeling anger at those who mistreated my people so long ago... how very _human_ of me."

"Is that so bad though?" She asked, "if being human means hating those who do you wrong instead of passively accepting it, or hoping that there's possibility for a better future for your people rather than living in a personal hell, or just getting angry at a bad guy, not letting them do whatever they want, then I don't think I _want_ to be Kryptonian anymore."

When Metallo remained silent, she turned to look at him. His eyes were dark, no longer emitting a bright green, and he was lying perfectly still.

She sighed and looked back up at the sky, and was able to just catch the sun before it dipped past the Metropolis skyline, leaving her in the darkness, while the wind picked up and began to whistle through the branches of the trees, squealing, screaming, wailing like a banshee.


	13. Hope

**A/N So, I don't know what you readers think, but personally, I've realised that I struggle with writing fight scenes, which is an awkward position for a** _ **superhero**_ **story, but nevertheless, a very short chapter, which I think is fair considering the last ordeal.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Fortress of Solitude  
** **April 2, 11:01 UTC**

Large crystal doors slid apart to allow him entry.

About an hour ago, Superman had sent for his half-clone to come to the Fortress of Solitude, and relishing the chance to see more of the enigmatic hideout, Connor agreed, convincing M'gann to fly him over in the bio-ship.

The whole place was much bigger inside than it looked, with towering spires of a crystalline substance, rows of benches, most covered in various technologies or other items, and many of which were quite clearly not native to the planet.

From where Connor was standing, he could see the fortress went very deep, both lengthways and downward, but he didn't have time to check it out right now, as he stopped to wait for Superman.

The Kryptonian, dressed fully in his red-and-blues, emerged from a hallway at the other end of the area, and grinned wide as soon as he noticed the clone. Ever since they finally began to talk following Vandal Savage's failed plan, and more so, since the Metallo incident, both had grown fairly close to each other, substituted by the awkward distance that had grown between Connor and his cousin.

"Connor, you're here, good" the older man walked over, "so, what do you think?" He asked, gesturing all around him.

"It's... Something else" Connor admitted "just one question though."

"Yes?"

"Why aren't I cold?" the clone asked, looking around the crystalline halls in amazement.

"Because it isn't ice" a woman's voice replied. Kal and Connor turned to find Kara slowly walking up to them, "it's a Kryptonian mineral known as sunstone, crystalline in appearance, but about as sturdy as any other building material, and it has it's... unique uses" she nodded, looking around the fortress.

"And you're not going to tell me those uses, are you?" He frowned.

"No, not yet, but you will know eventually," she reassured, but the boy didn't seem very placated. She sighed slightly, and looked at her older cousin, "why did you call me, and presumably him, to meet you here?"

Superman's features went hard, and he fixed both younger Kryptonians with a stern but concerned stare. "Look, ever since... I don't know when, you two have been at each-other's throats, and even though it looks like you're on the same page after Metallo, things are still tense. I called you both here so you could discuss your issues, and sort things out, okay?"

Kara sighed again, "look Kal, I know you think-"

"No" the older man interrupted, "there's no arguing this, now go find somewhere, and talk."

After a moment's hesitation, the two younger heroes walked off, deeper into the fortress, leaving Superman behind them.

After a short but silent walk, Kara led them both to a room with a large hexagonal screen displaying a video feed of the sun, while they sat on a catwalk suspended over a menagerie of tamed, but alien animals.

They sat side-by-side, staring at the sun, in continued silence. Both were unsure of how to approach the conversation, thinking hard on it.

"So... We beat Metallo," Kara finally began.

"Yeah... Yeah, we did," Connor nodded.

"Okay, can you tell me _why_ you keep... Acting out?" Kara relented, askign the question that had plagued her for months.

"I was mad at you." He shrugged.

"It can't be as simple as that."

He sighed, and looked away for a moment, "I think... I think I wanted to prove myself... I wanted to show you that, even though there are moments where we fight, or I seem like I can't handle myself, I'm stronger than you think."

"Connor... I've _always_ known you're strong, heck, you beat Superman on New Year's Eve, remember?" They both smiled, amused at the memory, "I just wish you didn't act so... Reckless."

"Well, I can't really help it when you _hate_ me," he grumbled, looking away again.

"I don't hate you, I never have" Kara frowned.

"Then why did you get so mad when I told you about my human DNA?"

"I didn't hate you then either."

"You sure _seemed_ angry."

"I was worried... Scared for you. If you were hiding this secret from me for so long, then who knows what _else_ you've been keeping quiet. If you for some reason, and by Rao I hope not, get yourself into trouble you can't handle, and I don't know about it, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself" she explained.

"Oh... I'm sorry then."

"Well, why _did_ you keep it a secret?"

He sighed, "because I didn't want to lose you. You _hate_ Lex Luthor, and I was worried that, if I told you, I'd have lost my only family," he shrugged.

And in response, she actually laughed a little. "Don't you remember that day we met the New Genesis kids?" She asked "I told you that I was literally a member of an intergalactic god-complexed warlord's honour guard, I don't exactly have the moral ground to criticise you for being half-Luthor."

"Well, if you weren't angry, then what about the last few months?"

"Honestly, it wasn't easy trying to force you and Kal to accept each other, being the thick-headed boys you both are, so it was frustrating that, as soon as you _were_ getting along, you started to turn your back on _me._

"Maybe I was too aggressive, and harsh, but like I said, when you act so reckless, you put yourself in danger, and I didn't want that to happen."

"Well, I don't think what happened in Japan helped," Connor noted.

"No, I guess having a grudge match with the cousin I'm trying to help, and levelling a nuclear power plant _isn't_ a good approach," she hummed.

Things became silent again after that, but it was a more comfortable silence.

"It occurs to me, you don't have a name" Kara broke it.

"What? Yes I do, Connor-"

"Sorry, I meant a _Kryptonian_ name" she clarified, "you have a name for your human DNA, for the... Luthor side of you, but..."

"Not Superman," he nodded.

"Would you... like one?" She asked carefully.

He remained silent, and then, "yeah, I would" a small smile broke out.

"Okay, you're an El, obviously, but... Connor, Connor, Connor, Con... Kon..."

"Kon?"

"Yeah, Kon-El. It sounds similar to Connor, and it's not a bad name, back when I was about eight, I knew this boy whose given name was Kon, and you remind me of him."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Well, he was an arrogant, and violent jerk-" the clone frowned at this "-but kind of a softie at heart," she followed with a smile.

"Kon-El" he said to himself a few times, sounding each syllable.

"Do you... like it?" The blonde's confidence was replaced with a sort of nervousness.

"Yeah, yeah I do."

They turned away from each other and back to the sun, silently promising not to let the other one down again.

* * *

 **A/N If there are still any questions, tell me, and I'll see if they're something to be added into this chapter.**


	14. Wonderful

**A/N This somehow got** _ **much**_ **longer than I expected it to be, but whatever, because I'm incredibly happy with how it turned out.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Mount Justice  
** **Team Year Two  
** **January 4, 09:23 EST**

"Recognised: Wonder Woman 0-3, Supergirl 2-2."

"And you really want to send her out with us?" The blonde asked her Amazonian companion.

"I don't want to, but she feels ready, and I suppose she deserves a chance to prove it" Wonder Woman explained.

"Well, I won't tell you how to deal with your stuff. Guys, you're here, great."

In front of her, the original members of the team before Zatanna joined, excluding herself, were assembled. She had sent them a message to meet at the cave after Wonder Woman approached her and explained she had a mission for them, as well as another surprise.

Almost a year after the Metallo incident, and things had gone relatively back to normal. The only differences were that she and Connor, who she often called Kon now, were closer than ever, while Batman had begun to contact them for mission briefings less and less, preferring to go through Kara for the job, as well as send her to 'supervise' them.

"You got a mission for us?" Kid asked from beside Artemis. Of all the teammates, they had become the closest over the year, and were even closer than Connor was with M'gann, which was reasonable, all things considered.

"Well, yes and no, Wonder Woman has a mission," the blonde stepped aside, and allowed the Amazonian to open a holographic map of Europe in front of them all. On the map, there was a small red square in the Mediterranean, the location of which had a blown up image beside it, showing an island none of them could recognise right away.

"This is Aeaea, a small and often disregarded island in the Mediterranean, north of Corsica," as much was obvious, "but recently a string of small fishing vessels have been disappearing in the waters around the island, and I think supernatural forces may be at work." Wally gave a strange look.

"According to legend, Aeaea is inhabited by a sorceress named Circe, and while I can confirm her existence, I am unsure if this is her base of operations. However, whatever is taking these fishing vessels is targeting male sailors specifically, which is exactly what Circe is known to do, which is what sparked my suspicion."

"Okay, so we go to the island, find the missing sailors, and stop whoever's doing it," Robin surmised.

"Correct. You will be flying out to Aeaea, and tracking down Circe. Only by defeating her will you be able to find the missing sailors. And one last thing. I would be greatly appreciative you would take my sister along with you."

"Wonder Woman has a sister?" Wally mumbled to Artemis.

"Access Granted: Wonder Girl A0-1. Authorisation: Supergirl 2-2."

Stepping out of the zeta-tube beside Kara came a girl about the same height, with a face identical to Wonder Woman's, but younger, and long black hair. She wore a black unitard that left only her arms bare, which also held a silver bracer on each forearm. Around her waist was a silver belt with a 'W', and latched onto it was a long silver rope, that had been looped around itself.

"Guys, this is Wonder Girl, and she _may_ be joining the team, depending on how the mission goes today," Kara introduced.

"Hello" the young Amazonian curtly greeted.

Kara cleared her throat, and extended and arm towards the team, "this is Robin, Kid Flash, Artemis, Miss Martian, Superboy, and Aqualad."

"Oh, should we..?" M'gann pointed to her head, suggesting they get the Amazonian comfortable with telepathic communication now.

"Later, besides, we should get going," Kara replied.

The blonde Leaguer led the team and Wonder Girl to the hangar, where the Bio-ship was already waiting for them. The team started to pile onto it, but stopped when they realised Wonder Girl hadn't followed, and was still just by the doorway.

"Wonder Girl?"

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline, I prefer my _own_ form of travel," to demonstrate, she began to lift off the ground, and hover slightly in the air, while the team watched on somewhat surprised.

"Okay, I guess Wonder Girl and I will follow in person," Kara shrugged, "Circe shouldn't be able to spot two girls anyway, not like a whole ship."

 **Aeaea  
** **January 4, 16:50 CET**

Not too much later, the bio-ship, fully cloaked, was shooting across the ocean towards their destination. Flanking either side were Wonder Girl and Supergirl, the former doing an impressive job of keeping speed with the Kryptonian, who had long ago given up flying with the bio-ship, and was occasionally breaking off on her own for a minute or two.

What Wonder _was_ missing out on was the mental conference between the team and Supergirl.

 _"So, white elephant, do we want Wonder Girl to join up?"_ Wally asked after the collective heroes had avoided the subject the entire flight to this point.

 _"I don't see why not"_ Kara replied.

 _"I hate to admit it, but with everything that happened a year ago, I'm also a little wary"_ M'gann spoke up.

 _"Maybe we should just go through with the mission, and see how it goes,"_ Robin replied.

 _"Besides, she_ is _Wonder Woman's sister, and I doubt she would be any less trustworthy than a founding member of the Justice League,"_ Aqualad joined in.

"Ahead" a voice called outside Kara's head.

To her left, Wonder Girl gestured with a jerk of the head towards an island they were rapidly approaching, "that is Aeaea."

 _"Guys, we're here"_ Kara relayed to her teammates within the ship.

The mental link between them broke, and all remained silent, or at least for Kara that is, as they descended towards a small clearing amongst the thick jungle, and landed.

While the Bio-ship touched down, Wonder Girl and Supergirl landed, and walked towards the tree-line together.

The jungle was noticeably silent. There were no animals making noise, no bushes rustling with wildlife, not even insects, like cicadas.

But once the team were fully disembarked, they moved towards the two eldest girls, only to stop when a cacophony of birds cawing and screeching pierced the quiet. The noise came from all around, and lasted for a full minute, before it just stopped.

Wonder Girl's eyes narrowed, and she took another step towards the trees, unlatched her lasso, and threw it's loop into the trees. When she jerked it back, a parrot with bright red eyes was caught in it, but rather than squirming or protesting, it passively hung, limp in her grip.

She took the lasso off and pushed apart some feathers on it's wing. Even Kara could see the small anchor inked on it.

"It's one of the missing sailors... she knows we're here." The Amazonian let go of the parrot, which took off into the trees again, and placed her lasso back on her belt.

"If you have a plan, we'd be happy to hear it," Kara nodded.

Both girls turned around and rejoined the group, who had switched their uniforms to stealth mode, despite the lush greenery, and bright sun. It was better to be careful, after all.

"Everyone, I have an idea" the black haired girl announced, "the enemy we face is unlike anything you've faced before. She is powerful, more so than any mortal, and has a particular love of toying with the minds of men-" M'gann and Artemis subconsciously stepped closer to their boyfriends.

"But, I know a way we can disrupt her magic, and free the missing sailors from their prison. You-" she pointed at Robin "-you are clearly the most knowledgable, and agile-" Kid whined at this, "-I need you to retrieve a herb known as 'Moly', as fast as you can. If crushed into a dust, a short burst to Circe's senses should put an end to her spells, at least long enough for us to defeat her."

"Not to poop on your party, but I'm faster than Robin" Kid argued.

"Do you know what Moly is?" The redhead flushed and silently stepped backwards.

"While I agree with your plan, Kid has a point. I'm stronger, faster, and have an extensive knowledge of chemistry, wouldn't it be smarter to send me?" Kara asked.

"No, the less men we fight beside, the less enemies we will fight."

"What does _that_ mean?" Artemis asked.

Wonder Girl gave her a strange look, "you will see soon enough. Supergirl and I shall take point, women, be ready, men... Try to resist."

They began their walk into the thick jungle, while Robin split off to go another way, leaping through the trees in search of the herb that Wonder Girl asked him to retrieve.

The first few minutes were relatively quiet, with all seven heroes silent, and the only sounds made being their footsteps. Unnervingly, there was once again no sign of any wildlife, to the point that Kara would have doubted there was any had she not seen the bird Wonder Girl caught earlier.

The silence, however, was broken when a light rustling in the bushes further ahead had the Amazonian throw her arm out to stop the blonde beside her.

"Quiet" she whispered, eyes darting around the thick wall pf trees around them.

"Why?" Connor asked, questioning the sudden halt.

"I said quiet!" Wonder Girl demanded.

She crept over to the bush from which the rustling came, and tore it away, revealing nothing. All was silent once more.

Not waiting for the Amazonian to confirm their safety, Connor grunted something about moving on, and started walking again, much to Wonder Girl dismay.

After only a few steps, the Kryptonian clone stopped, as a low rumble began shaking the earth below them. The rumble grew to a massive quake, and bursting from among the trees came a stampede of animals, some of which were wearing torn clothing.

Wonder Girl and Supergirl only had a moment to dive out of the way, the latter landing by her cousin, and shooting him an unimpressed glare, to which he returned a sheepish and apologetic look.

Moments later, it began quite clear that the stampede was more of a charge, and attack, as a number of monkeys rained down from the trees onto Aqualad and Artemis, clawing at them, and trying to grab their weapons.

As they struggled to fight off the hoard of small primates, and number of much larger ones descended upon the Kryptonian cousins, swinging their thick meaty hands at the pair, which were blocked or parried with equally powerful strikes.

Towards the rear of the group, Kid Flash was sprinting back and forth, hear and there, being pursued by a flock of hawks and eagles, which were clawing at him whenever they could.

A second flock attacked Miss Martian, who was instead trying to bat them away by telekinetically summoning rocks or branches, and swatting the birds with them. After each impact, she winced ever so slightly.

And at the very front of the group, was Wonder Girl, single-handedly brawling with a massive silverback gorilla that was bigger than Superboy, and not taking the Amazonian threat lightly.

With their combined strength, the group of apes turned out to be no match for the Kryptonians, as the pair quickly gained the upper hands, and disposed of the attackers in a few quick blows. Those that did not fall unconscious, bruised and brutalised, ran back into the jungle a quick as they could, Kara firing a burst of lasers as a warning to follow.

The monkeys attacking Artemis and Aqualad, however, at least managed to last a little longer than their large counterparts, before the Atlantean and archer were able to get a hold of the weapons, and scatter their enemies in a flurry of arrows and water.

As this happened, the army of birds preying on M'gann and Kid separated not too long after, quickly coming to the realisation that the boy was much too fast to keep up with, and the Martian wasn't likely to stop telekinetically throwing objects at them any time soon.

The attack had been ended, for the most part, but as the team took care of their respective opponents, Wonder Girl continued to fight the massive silverback towards the group's front.

It was really an incredible sight, as the girl lithely evaded the gorilla's thick fists, following each failed attack with a quick and precise jab into it's side or back. While the blows didn't seem to be very powerful, they were punctuated with a groan, or roar from the beast as a clear, and loud expression of pain.

A short while of this pattern seemed to rile the gorilla up enough that, in a move none of the team could have predicted, it went for another swing, which came up short on purpose, and followed it up with a second swing right where, usually, Wonder Girl would have moved into.

But somehow, as if she had predicted the move, she dodged in the opposite direction, and spun around so that she ended up standing behind the gorilla. In one leap, she shot off the ground, and landed on her knees riding just below the silverback's neck. She unlatched her lasso, and looped it around the gorilla's neck, pulling it tight, while leaning in close to it's ear.

She seemed to whisper something, before jumping off with her lasso. But instead of attacking her again, like the team suspected would happen, the gorilla turned to the jungle where it's small army had fled into, and followed them, not even looking back.

The team moved over to her, in awe.

"Dude, that was awesome!" Wally gaped.

"Yeah, where'd you learn to fight like _that?"_ Artemis asked.

"The very same place your Supergirl did, Paradise Island," Wonder Woman replied with a small smirk.

"Remind me to visit some time" the archer muttered.

"We should not wait. We are here for a reason," Aqualad interrupted, reminding the group of their mission.

With the animals defeated, and he threat passed, Wonder Girl and Supergirl took up point again, signalling the continued walk through the jungle. However after what had just happened, all seven were straining just a little harder to listen for movement besides their own.

It wasn't long until the thick groupings of trees began to thin out, and open up to a small clearing, inside which stood a tall ruins of some kind that back onto a cliff-face. The ruin was made up of a yellow-white stone, with vines and plants sprouting out from the cracks between stone bricks. On the level they were on, there was the base of a staircase, which had long ago collapsed, making access to the cliff just a few metres above much harder.

For the second time since they landed on Aeaea, Wonder Girl stopped abruptly and called for those following her to do the same, which they did, albeit confused.

She took three slow steps into the clearing, and placed a hand on the lasso still attached to her waist, but did not pull it free.

"Circe!" She called, eyes scanning the cliff, "I know you're there. Show yourself, and we may show you mercy!"

There was no reply, but out of silence came a derisive cackle, echoing around the area. Above, a woman stepped into sight at the edge of the cliff. She had long purple hair that seemed to shine slightly, despite her not standing in any direct light. She wore a set of armour strangely reminiscent of Wonder Woman's, but with silver rather than gold, and a dragon in the centre of her chest, instead of a 'W'.

" _You_ will show mercy? My dear, one can only be merciful to an enemy within their grasp, and you are so _very_ incapable of grasping me from down _there_."

"Stop your games and face me fairly Circe."

"Oh believe me, I _would_ girl, but t'would be a folly decision to make by facing down a septet of heroes all on my own, so I believe I shall remain up here, where my safety is relatively assured."

"If you will not come down and fight of your own volition, then I will make my way up to you." Winder Girl took another two broad steps before being stopped by Circe's cackle.

"My dear, it will be quite difficult for you to confront me personally when you will be busy defending yourselves from your own allies!"

Behind Wonder Girl, the three boys suddenly stopped moving, and shot upright, backs straight. Their eyes widened as far as they could, and took over a kind of hazy, dazed quality.

"Aqualad? Guys?" Artemis hesitantly waved a hand in front of the Atlantean's face, but her didn't even blink.

"Now, my thralls, kill them!" Circe ordered.

As if something snapped within their mins, the three boys shot into action, immediately attacking the girls. Kid turned to his girlfriend, and walked over to her, to which she stepped backwards in kind, worried about what he was going to do.

"Wa- Kid?" She asked, for a moment forgetting they were on a mission, "what's wrong?"

Wonder Girl acted immediately, surging towards them, and tackling the speedster away. Sitting up from where they landed, she turned to the archer. "Be careful, they aren't your friends anymore."

Behind her, Connor had turned to his cousin, and glared at her.

"C'mon, this again?" She groaned, preparing for another fight with the clone.

He lunged at her, attempting some kind of grab, but she easily sidestepped the attack, and smacked him in the back so that he tripped, and fell over. "Well, at least it's not really _him_ this time," she shrugged.

As the Kryptonian girl deftly dodged each of her inthralled cousin's attacks, following with a counter-attack that often left him sprawled across the ground, Aqualad moved to take on Miss Martian. While the boy was much too strong fir her to fight, she did at least have the freedom to float up into the air, and wait as he tried, but failed to reach her.

Kid, meanwhile, struggled and flailed to stand up, but Wonder Girl refused to allow him, keeping the speedster pinned below her. Artemis, instead, turned her attention to Circe, who was watching the fight from above. She readied and arrow, and aimed at the sorceress, but was distracted, and forced to jump back when Superboy's body shot by, and into a tree, "sorry!" Called Kara.

Circe sighed, "well, 'tis a far more anticlimactic battle, than one would hope fore, perhaps I should tip the scales," she muttered to herself. With the snap of her fingers, a hoard of apes burst from the trees all around to join the fight.

Most immediately went to target Kara, as the most readily available target, which she welcomed. A number of apes descended upon her simultaneously, struggling to push past each other so that they could sneak in a punch or kick.

But all they received, once they were able to get the front of the attack, was a vicious blow from the Kryptonian. Evidently, after facing down a potential invasion from Kryptonian-built androids, a handful of apes was a break.

While most of the apes attacked Kara, a smaller number moved to take on Artemis, who was once again saved by Wonder Girl, who shot in front of her to stop them. The Amazonian yelled at her to stop Kid Flash and Aqualad.

With one arrow, she managed the latter task with ease, firing it into the Atlantean, after which the arrow then burst into a massive red foam, which surrounded his body, and hardened in moments.

It would at least hold for now.

With the Atlantean taken care of, she moved on to her boyfriend, who had finally gotten back to his feet, and rushed at her. She dodged out of the way, and began to lead him on a chase around the clearing, using the fact that his enslaved mind wasn't able to make the necessary movements to keep up with her agility.

Circe narrowed her eyes at how frustratingly easy it was for the girls to defeat her thralls, until her eyes fell on the Kryptonian clone, and a wicked grin broke across her face.

With a slight wave of the hand, he shot up to his feet once more, and then doubled over onto his knees. His muscles began to ripple, and grow, his hands and feet doubled in size, and fur started sprouting across his whole body. In seconds, the clone had been transformed into a massive gorilla, with all the strength of Superboy, garbed in his pants, and now torn shirt.

Unaware of the transformation, Miss Martian emerged from where she had been hiding in the trees, and and dropped to the ground to survey the battle. As she came into view, the gorilla-Connor turned his attention from Wonder Girl, whom was just finishing off the last of the apes that had attack Artemis, and trained his eyes onto the relatively defenceless Martian girl.

With a roar, he moved towards her, taking her by surprise, and in one swing, knocked into a tree, which she hit, and slid down to sit up against.

She then looked up to see Connor's large hand come down towards the cowering her, and whimpered in fear from the act, closing her eyes tight. But when no impact came, she opened her eyes to look up her her transformed boyfriend, who was standing still with a golden rope around his neck.

Sitting on his massive shoulders was Wonder Girl, who leaned down to mutter something into his ear. Second slater, he turned away from M'gann, and moved towards the apes that Kara was trying to fight off.

He let out another deafening bellow, and charged at the smaller primates. Kara saw Connor coming, and immediately shot up into the air to dodge his attack, giving Wonder Girl a strange look as the Amazonian smirked in delight, not paying attention to anything other than the battle.

The Kryptonian girl turned and saw Artemis still trying to evade Kid Flash, slowing almost into his grasp, and moved in to help by dropping down between the two.

He threw a punch at the Leaguer's face, which connected, but didn't even get her to flinch, and in retaliation, she grabbed him by the collar, pulled him in to deliver a quick smack to the back of his head, just enough to knock him over, and gently placed her foot on his chest to pin him to the ground.

In the meantime, Connor, or maybe Wonder Girl, had wasted no time in beginning a vicious barrage of attacks onto the apes. With each word the Amazonian muttered into his ear, Kara realised these must have been commands, he swung a fist at one ape, which smacked it high into the air, and over a far distance of jungle, before landing with a still audible thump.

It only took a few smashes, and discarded enemies, for the rest to get the hint, and turn to flee into the trees around them. With their enemies all defeated, Wonder Girl whispered one last command i to the gorilla-Connor's ear, which got him to stop and stand, passively waiting his next order.

Seeing her thralls taken down, Circe's maniacal grin slipped into the deep frown, and with a snap of her fingers, she turned, and sauntered further into the jungle, allowing the team to regroup. She would deal with them later.

Below Kara's foot, Kid Flash seemed to lose the blank stare that he had previously, and looked down at the red boot pinning him by his chest in confusion. Similarly, Aqualad too lost the dazed expression, realised he was also being pinned to the ground. Finally, Wonder Girl unloosed the lasso from Connor's neck, as he regained his normal form, and dropped to his knees with a grunt.

Supergirl and Miss Martian rushed over to him, while Artemis helped up the downed speedster, and Wonder Girl aided the Atalntean leader.

"What happened?" Wally asked, rubbing the back of his head where Kara had smacked him.

"Circe happened" Wonder Girl replied.

"She hypnotised you" Artemis clarified, "and forced you to fight us. Superboy was turned into a gorilla."

Kid smiled slightly at the mental image of a gorilla Superboy, before another wave of pain in his head made him cringe.

"Is this what you a warned us of Wonder Girl?" Aqualad asked.

"Yes. I apologise that I couldn't explain further before, but you must trust that I have my reasons."

"Hate monkeys" Connor mumbled, sitting down on a tree stump and hanging his head.

"So, a little more explanation now?" Artemis asked the Amazonian.

"Of course," she nodded. "Circe's magic is not reserved solely to men, but she has the ability to influence them, and turn them into her thralls. In addition to this power, she can also... Transform her thralls into animals, as you saw with Superboy. The fact that she does so to men more than women is solely her preference."

"Well-" a small beep that emitted from Kara's belt drew her attention away, and she stepped back, placing a hand to her ear "Supergirl here... What?... Is nobody else..." She sighed, and looked back at the team for a moment "fine, I'll be right there."

She stepped back over to them, "I need to go, there's an alert, and the rest of the League isn't immediately available, can you complete this mission without me?"

"Why the need to ask? Don't you trust us?" Connor grumbled from where he was still sitting on a tree stump.

"you _know_ I trust you Kon, but with Wonder Girl here, circumstances are different, we have a responsibility, to her and Wonder Woman."

"Kara, we will be fine, as will Wonder Girl" Aqualad assured her.

She stood silently for a moment, "alright then, I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can," those were her parting words, as she flew off into the sky moments later, speeding back towards the U.S.

"So, anybody have a plan?" Artemis asked.

"Until your teammate returns with the moly, there is little we can than sustain an assault against Circe. She will continue to attack us with the wildlife, and your male friends, until defeated," Wonder Girl explained.

"Your lasso, it looked like it was.. Controlling Connor," Miss Martian noted.

"Yes, when an enemy is held in the lasso, if I can overpower their will, they fall under my control. While in the form of a beast, Superboy was powerful in body, but weak in mind, which is how I was able to control you with such ease."

"Uh, thanks?" He frowned.

"Well, we should try to track down Circe" M'gann suggested.

"Yeah, and this time, I think I'm gonna stay back a bit" Wally agreed.

The team set about following Circe's path into the jungle, Artemis and Miss Martian leading the way, while Aqualad and Kid Flash walked a shirt ways behind them.

At the rear of the group, Superboy trudged along, lost in his thoughts, so much so that he failed to notice the Amazonian sidle up beside him.

"You are troubled" she said. The clone jumped from her sudden presence.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I am" he frowned.

"If it is of any consolation, Circe's control over you is different from that of your creators."

He stared at her in open shock, "what?"

She smirked a little, "surely you know what I mean. Cadmus? The way they created you to be used as a weapon? Circe's control is different, I assure you."

"How did you...?"

"Firstly, it isn't exactly secret information among the Justice League that you're a clone of Superman," she explained, "but I suppose It helps to have an personal understanding of the way a clone would think, and feel."

"What do you mean 'personal'?"

She only smirked again, "you're... a clone?" He asked, shocked.

"Well, in a sense, yes. I am a magical duplicate of my sister. When she was a child, her mother on Paradise Island felt she needed a friend to play with, at least until she was old enough to begin training as a warrior. So, I was created, and over time, we developed a strong sisterly bond.

"However, an unforeseen issue was that at some point my sister made enemies, even when only a teenager, and these enemies possessed powerful magics. One day I was taken, my captor believing me to be my sister, and cursed to forever live out my days at the age I am now, which is a rather tame curse, but a curse nonetheless."

"I'm sorry" he didn't know what else to say.

"Don't be, the women of Themyscira are all immortal, we do not age, and Wonder Woman is the only exception being the only Amazonian who was not yet alive when they were given such a gift."

They continued trudging along the dirt track in silence, listening to sounds of the jungle, and the conversations being had further up the track.

"I mention that Circe's control over you was different from Cadmus, which is true. While they created and grew you to be used as a weapon, she simply took control of your mind."

"And _how_ is that different?" He questioned.

"Because according to the reports and stories I have heard, when Cadmus controlled you, you were forced to break that control on your own, before helping Supergirl, Kid Flash, Robin and Aqualad. This time however, you don't need to make that effort alone." She shot him a quick smile, and quickened her pace to catch up with the girls at point, leaving Connor behind her to think about what she said.

The search for Circe continued in much the same way, with periods of silenced, broken by short conversations between the heroes.

It was partway through Artemis and Wonder Girl's conversation about archery, and their individual abilities, when a distant roar sounded.

Wonder Girl's shot an arm out to halt the group, "gorillas, hide" she ordered. Not willing to wrgue with her after everything so far, the six young heroes dusked behind or into the trees around them , just before a group of about eight massive gorillas lumbered by, the one at the front grunting what seemed like orders at the others.

A few minutes after the primates passed, the team moved back into the open.

"Circe is close by, she wouldn't send a powerful force like that too far away from herself, she needs their protection," Wonder Girl noted.

They resumed the trek through the jungle, this time far more focused on looking out for the sorceress, or her animal thralls.

Not much longer afterwards. They came across another set of ruins, this time a large stone bowl that dug into the earth. It resembled an arena, with an oval area in the centre designated for fighting, and rings of steps surrounding it, that could be used as seating.

On the opposite end of the arena was a balcony the jutted out slightly over the fighting grounds. It was empty, and eerily silent.

"Stay alert" Wonder Girl muttered, making her way down to the ground at the bottom of the arena, followed by Superboy

Artemis and Aqualad remained near the upper ring of steps, circling around the left of the arena, while Kid Flash, followed closely by Miss Martian, moved about halfway down, and began circling around to the right.

"What's up with this place?" Artemis asked nobody in particular.

"I'm afraid I am unsure," Wonder Girl replied, "but much like the rest of this island, I assume this area was once populated, and this would have been their proving grounds."

"Proving grounds?" Wally asked.

"Yes. On Paradise Island, when a warrior wishes to prove she is worthy of being charged with an important task, say becoming a squadron leader, or one of our queen's honour guard, they are put to combat with an elite warrior. Before I was allowed to come to the lands of man, I had to defeat Artemis, the strongest of our warriors, barring my sister."

The archer of the same name looked down to the Amazonian, who was not paying attention to her, strangely. She opened her mouth to make a comment, but a shrill cackle, not unlike that of the sorceress they were looking for, stopped her short.

The source of the cackle, which indeed turned out to be Circe, stepped into view on the balcony above the arena, spurring the team to all ready their weapons, or adopt a fighting stance.

"Circe! Come down here or I'll-"

"You'll what?" The sorceress cut off Wonder Girl, "fight me? Kill me? Come and get me?" She mocked from above. "I fail to see just _how_ you will be able to do so when you, once again, are too busy trying to stop your own teammates!"

Just as before, a small wave of the hand had Superboy, Kid Flash, and Aqualad lose the angry expressions on their faces, instead looking blankly out at nothing. Circe snapped her fingers, and all three lunged at the girls they were standing beside, trying to get a hold of them.

Superboy moved to grab onto Wonder Girl with brute strength, but the Amazonian was much too fast, and was able to step away from his advance easily.

Artemis wasn't quite as lucky, being well matched against Aqualad in that regard, but also paling in comparison to his Atlantean strength. However, she at least had the use of various tools to aid her, and the moment he grabbed onto her arms, she screwed her eyes shut as the bomb-like device she had primed in her hand went off, releasing a bright flash, too much even for The inthralled Aqualad, who let go and recoiled in surprise.

As Artemis and Wonder Girl effectively held their own against their two allies turned enemies, Moss Martian employed an alternative tactic to deal with Kid Flash, by actively fleeing from his attacks, and trying to think of an attack plan as she moved.

She flew around the arena's middle seating just high enough so that, while the redhead boy was able to keep up with her, he was unable to jump high enough to catch her.

At the lowest area, Wonder Girl blocked a punch from Superboy with one hand, gripping onto his fist tight, and struggling to push it back. She looked up at her female compatriots, watching as The Martian struggled to avoid being caught by the speedster, and the archer narrowly dodged attacks from the Atlantean.

She made a decision there, and as soon as she was able to throw Superboy away for a brief moment, she moved and cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Women!" She called. Both girls listened, but didn't look away from their tasks, "I know that this battle seems to be pointless, and to fight your own allies, your own friends is a heartbreaking task, but we must stand strong, and defeat your brethren, so that we may end Circe's wretched hold on their minds! Stand strong women! Stand strong!"

Hearing Wonder Girl's words, Artemis and Miss Martian nodded to themselves, and doubled their efforts in fighting off the boys, actually managing to gain an inch

Above, Circe yawned in boredom. While she found it entertaining to watch them struggle against their own friends, it rapidly became a tedious affair. So with another flex of the wrist, the boys topped their attacks, and staggered back from the girls.

In the arena itself, Connor dropped to his knees and, for the second time that day, took the form of a massive gorilla. Not too far above him, Kid Flash also dropped to his knees, and stayed on all fours for a second, before his arms shifted in their shape, and his red hair was replaced by a yellow and black-spotted fur, taking the form of a super-speedy cheetah, with the leg strength to make those jumps he was unable to before.

Aqualad's transformation was much more awkward, as he already possessed a great deal of animal-like DNA, but once his skin turned a grey, scaly quality, and a fin sprouted from his back, it became clear he had been turned into some kind of shark-human hybrid, his fish instincts taking over from his human side.

The new forms of Superboy, Kid Flash, and Aqualad was all that was required for the tide of battle to shift once more, and push the girl's into defensive tactics once more.

M'gann and Artemis went straight back to avoiding attacks, and searching for an opening, but Wonder Girl proved to still be better than the mindless beast that once was Superboy.

Using his momentum as a weapon, she gracefully avoided massive attacks that left the primate-clone stumbling, and trying to recover, only for a small but super-strong fist to batter his chest or abdomen.

At this point, Wonder Girl was forced ti resign to the fact that they all had to sustain the battle, just until Robin could return from his task, and remove Circe's only weapon.

The fight continued in much of the same fashion as it had been waged so far, with Wonder Girl patiently waiting for the small boy they oh so desperately needed.

And her patience was required, as while Circe madly cackled away above them, her mocking laughter was interrupted by another cackle, this one younger, male, and disembodied.

The sorceress looked around for the source of the sound, turning 360 degrees, and coming face to face at the end of her slow spin with a domino mask behind an enclosed hand.

Robin didn't speak, only smirked, and opened his hand to blow the white-green powder out into Circes face, who coughed and hacked and spluttered, stumbling away from the boy.

The quick burst of moly powder into Circe's face was somewhat underwhelming, considering the importance of it, but the effects seemed to take place immediately afterwards.

Still in the midst of grappling with their female counterparts, Wally, Kaldur, and Connor lost their dazed and crazed faces, and slowly shifted back into their human forms, dropping to their knees from a sudden onset of exhaustion.

On the balcony, Circe regained control of her senses, and looked out over the arena, seeing her thralls turn back into their own forms, and regain control of their _own_ minds.

Her face went red with anger, "you _dare_ to defy me?! The great sorceress Circe?! I will _crush_ you! You are _insects_ below my boot! You will _all_ feel-" the enraged sorceress was cut off, promptly knocked out with a quick punch to the face from Wonder Girl, whom Circe had not been paying attention to.

"So, how was my performance?" Wonder Girl asked, looking down to the team.

All six heroes shared small smiles, Connor's somehow looking the strongest, before turning to Aqualad expectantly.

"Wonder Girl, it would be our honour to welcome you into our team."

"In that case-" she jumped off the balcony to stand amongst her new teammates, "-please call me Donna."

* * *

 **A/N So, Wonder Girl, yeah? I know that, to discern her from Cassie Sandsmark, Donna Troy ended up going by Troia, and I think that's her canon name in YJ, but to me, she'll always be Wonder Girl 1. I hope I did her justice, and if I didn't feel free to explain what** _ **you**_ **think she should be like.**


	15. Nightmares

**A/N Please don't hate me if I got the Irish time zone wrong, time zones cane be difficult to get perfect.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

 _"_ _When the darkness creeps in,  
_ _I feel my nightmares watching me.  
_ _And when my dreams are sleeping,  
_ _I feel my nightmares watching me.  
_ _ **Oh, oh, oh!  
**_ _I feel my nightmares watching me._ _"  
_ _-Nightmares_ by _Ed Sheeran_

* * *

 **McDougal Manor, Ireland  
** **2006  
** **May 30, 00:00 IST**

 _Blue eyes, black smoke, a face she recognises, yet doesn't._

 _It's him, but not him, and a scream is followed by a wail followed by a cry._

 _Mum begs, demands she go, run, leave now._

 _He, it screams again, and it, she cries again._

 _She stands, she runs, she almost trips over a body, or a brother, once._

 _She exits the front door, rain and thick white fog swirl and coat the landscape, but lights, a brilliant blue guide the way._

 _He screams, she runs._

 **Metropolis  
** **Team Year Two  
** **May 25, 01:30 EST**

Siobhan's eyes shot open, it is still dark out, and the only sound is that of distant cars roaring through empty streets. She swings her legs out off her bed, and stands, rubbing at her eyes, and trying to slow her heart.

That dream, that painfully vivid dream, or maybe...

No, not now, it's... One in the goddamn morning... Time for late night infomercials and last minute job applications/uni work.

She needed a drink.

Stumbling out of her bedroom, into a messy apartment, it did occur to her that it wasn't healthy to drink this early in the morning, but screw it, she never said she was an angel.

The light in the fridge damn near blinded her when she opened it, but the girl managed to brave the cold air and overly bright light to grab onto a can, any can, and pull it out. Upon inspection, she noticed it was an energy drink, which was better then nothing at least.

She moved over to the couch and dropped onto it, pulling a laptop into her crossed legs to continue whatever she had been doing last, while flicking the T.V on.

While a thirty something year old man raved about the greatness of the latest vacuum cleaner, she began composing her latest piece, a song for her course, and not leisure, unfortunately, but whatever helped.

Only this time, it didn't help, and she couldn't get the chilling thought of those icy blue eyes out of her head.

"Son of a..." She mumbled a swear, and smacked the side of her head, "forget it."

Pushing the laptop off again, Siobhan knew it would take more than a wannabe Billy Mays and mandatory fun to take her mind off the dream, so she pulled on a pair of jeans, and an old hoodie, and left the apartment to see what she could do outside.

Maybe some 'silver justice' would do the trick.

 **McDougal Manor, Ireland  
** **2006  
** **May 30, 00:00 IST**

 _Those eyes are bright blue, and everything is covered in black smoke. There's a face, one she should recognise, but it's different._

 _It's him, or it was, and someone screams, so he wails, so she cries._

 _Her mum begs, and demands that she go, run, leave right now._

 _He, no, it screams again, and then it, no, she cries again._

 _So she stands, and she runs, but she almost trips over a body, it's her brother, or it once was._

 _She runs out through the front door, where rain and thick white fog are swirling and coating the landscape, but there are lights, a brilliant blue colour, guiding her away._

 _He screams again, so she runs._

 **Metropolis  
** **Team Year Two  
** **May 25, 11:30 EST**

She's jerked awake by a hand on her shoulder.

"Siobhan, wake up!" Someone whisper-shouts into her ear.

Looking over, Linda is frantically trying to get her to wake up. They're in the middle of class, and she must've fallen asleep. Admittedly, she hadn't got much last night, despite going for a walk, and even stopping a mugging.

Those damn nightmares wouldn't stop plaguing her, and had kept her awake all night, which wasn't a very good predicament to be in when your lecturer is a hard-ass, and you've only showed up for the bare minimum amount of lectures, maybe even less.

It didn't help that she had yet to complete the looming music assignment, and was still on the hunt for a job. She could take down a whole smuggling operation, and beat a crime kingpin into the dirt without any issues, but when it came to getting paid work, she was pretty much hopeless.

She sat upright just in time for her hard-ass lecturer's gaze to fall upon her and the brunette she was sitting beside, before dropping back to the lesson, while her head dropped back down to the table in front of her.

 **Metropolis  
** **May 27, 12:30 EST**

"Dude..." A hand waved back and forth in front of Siobhan's unfocused eyes, but had no effect. "Siobhan?" A strangely distant voice called. The Irish woman's eyes began to slide closed.

A sudden bang just below her had the girl shooting upright in her seat, and looking around wildly.

Linda's hand was on the table between them, the metal slightly dented from where she had smacked it to get Siobhan's attention. The other girl was always so full of surprises, and her incredible strength was not a small one.

The two were in Metropolis University's large cafeteria, dining on the finest of cheap, convenient lunch. Or they _had_ been dining, right up until Linda's story about... something had turned into a fuzzy mess of noise, and Siobhan almost turned her BLT into a pillow.

"Um sorr' wha?" The musician slurred. It had been another sleepless night, the third in a row, and it had _really_ begun to affect her.

"What's going on Siobhan? Is something bothering you?"

Yes, "No." There was no way Linda would understand the crap she had to deal with. Just last night she tried to stop a good ol' fashioned electronic store robbery, but had almost dozed off when the guy in charge of the robbery begun some long, drawn-out monologue about whatever or whoever.

Fortunately for Siobhan, Supergirl, the ever present guardian of Metropolis and Silver Banshee brand screw-ups, was in the area, and busted in to bust some heads, saving Siobhan's lucky-unlucky ass.

"I'm just... Stressed" it was true enough, she didn't need to know that the cursed girl was having recurring night-terror-memories that had more significance than she was ready to admit.

"About schoolwork?" The brunette asked sympathetically.

"Uh, yeah. Schoolwork," again, not technically a lie.

"Well, maybe you should speak to your teachers about getting deadline extensions, if it's costing you sleep," Linda suggested.

"Uh, yeah, maybe I will." If she _could_ get an extension for the issues she had, then life would be oh so much easier, but alas, the life of a cursed woman was not one of ease and luck.

Tonight, Siobhan planned to work out a _lot_ of pent up frustration on whatever poor unsuspecting S.O.B broke the law, and crossed her path.

 **Metropolis  
** **May 28, 23:04 EST**

The night air was especially cold tonight, as if it heralded the beginning of some bad happenings. Of course, bad happenings were the flavour of the night, as the Silver Banshee prowled across the rooftops, hunting her prey.

Just a few minutes ago, she was calmly waiting atop the roof of an unsuspecting police car, the two officers inside on some kind of stakeout, and was listening to their radio as it called out any crimes in progress.

Siobhan felt fortunate that she wasn't in Gotham, because there wouldn't have been a moment of peace, but at least in Metropolis, every mugging and hold-up was followed by a long silence. None of the crimes that had been reported sounded appealing to the Banshee, they police and Super family could deal with them, but she needed to work some stress out, and for that, a big job was needed.

The night prior, she had attempted to work some energy out by tracking down as many petty, small-time criminals as she could, and beating them to tears. It hadn't exactly worked. So this time, she was trying a new approach, focusing primarily on the big ones.

And that 'big one' she was waiting for came in the form of an alert for a bank robbery. Cliché, major, and a great way to redeem herself for the last time she screwed up a bank robbery. It was perfect.

The police below her scrambled to activate their sirens, but as soon as they were on the move, she was already blinking from rooftop to rooftop, bee-lining for the bank under siege.

The scene she ended up near was a fairly standard affair. Police surrounding the building, hostages, negotiator, blah blah. Most heroes would have calmly tried to work out a situation were everyone got out okay. Silver Banshee was _not_ most heroes.

In one easy, but slightly tiring blink, she left the roof above and across the street from the bank, and reappeared within it's walls, startling a six or so armed men inside.

The two closest to her were the first to ready their weapons, but only ended up firing into thin air, as Siobhan exhausted the last of the energy she set aside for blinking to appear behind one man, and send a quick chop to the side of his neck, followed by a punch to the opposite side abdomen, and when he dropped to his knees, a kick to the side of his head. Knocked out.

She turned and glared at the second man to her right, who fearlessly raised his rifle up to fire at her. Just as he squeezed the trigger, releasing a stream of bullets, Siobhan began sprinting at him, using her momentum to drop to the ground in a slide, and move right under his line of fire, which he wasn't able to lower before she made it over to him.

Continuing her movement, she slid right into his legs and tripped him over, sending the man falling forwards over her, while she slid to a stop under him. Now, they both lay on the ground, her head just next to his feet. In one smooth movement, she swung her legs up and rolled backwards so that she was instead sitting on his back, then bent backwards again into a bridge pose, gripped his head, and moved forwards again, bringing his head with her, forcing him to bend back instead. She jerked her own head back to smack into the back of his own, which knocked him our, and stood up.

She turned her attention now to the two men on the other side of the low wall of hostages, who stared at her with thinly veiled fear.

She gave a short grunt, and leapt towards them, using a hostage's head as a platform to push off of, and leap higher into the air. The two criminals watched her soar, a mixture shocked and afraid of her, and did nothing as she landed on one, knocking him to the floor. She stood and gave a quick kick to his head to keep him down, then trained her eyes on the other man.

Deciding to run, rather than fight, he dropped his gun and sprinted for the front door. But there was no escaping from the Silver Banshee, and without even moving away from her previous opponent, who was still below her feet, she let out a powerful death wail, which travelled across the room, past the hostages who, admittedly, may have sustained some collateral damage, and into the fleeing man, blasting him through the doorway.

That left two more criminals to go, one nearby, still passively watching, and one behind the bank teller's desk, who was lifting his weapon to fire at her.

She surged toward the closer of the two, still physically moving through the area, and swung a fist at his face, knocking him down to the ground temporarily. Moments later, she turned to the other man, who fired at her, and blink out of the space just before his bullets hit, and reappeared beside him.

She didn't even give him time to yell as she wrapped her arms around him, and barrelled along the full length of the desk, hitting the wall opposite them, and bashing his head against a shelf attached to it, effectively knocking him out.

A bang drew her attention away, and to the last man standing, who had picked up a rifle and fired at her, missing hopelessly. She didn't have time to blink or react any further than ducking behind the teller's desk when he fired again, and began moving the stream of bullets up and down the wooden cover, hoping to hit Siobhan at some point. He ended up emptying the entire magazine, before stopped, and staring at the silent and still desk in anticipation.

He assumed all was dealt with, and so dropped his guard just as the Silver Banshee leapt from behind the desk, broke through the glass cover between them, tackled him to the ground, knocking the gun out of his hands.

Seeing that all six bank robbers had been taken down, the hostages stood and sprinted out of the bank in a frenzy, screaming, while Siobhan stood up, and loomed over the last remaining criminal. His eyes widened in fear, and his mouth opened to scream, as he rapidly began shuffling away from the woman.

She glared down at him with nothing less than contempt, and moved to deliver the final blow. But a quick flash from the corner of her eye dragged Siobhan's attention away from her prey.

Looking left, she spotted... absolutely nothing, just a mirror, for some reason, and her own reflection staring back.

She looked away and back to the cowering man, but something about her reflection seemed wrong, forcing her to look back again.

There didn't seem to be any issues, she still had all of her limbs, her hair wasn't even messed up... Well, not any more than usual, and her eyes... Her eyes were... They were just like his.

Those twin orbs of glowing blue, piercing the darkness that she had built to protect her soul, and dredging out the blackness around the memories she had sought to suppress once and for all.

And for the first time in forever, that face, which had once been a face in the mirror within her dreams, and then a suit of armour, stirred a well of fear, and panic, up inside of her heart.

The fiery blaze of fear grew from an unsettling weight in her gut, to a roaring terror, and even when she looked away, and stumbled, squeezing those blue orbs away, the image of him, of that man who hadn't been seen for years, was still there, grinning away behind her lids.

She turned and left the building, stumbling and shuffling, grunting and growling, an animalistic demon, all the way until she made it back home, and the shadows dissipated, leaving a shaking girl curled up just below her apartment window.

 **McDougal Manor, Ireland  
** **2006  
** **May 30, 00:00 IST**

 _He stands over her, pale white skin an imitation of the light peachy tone it once held. And his eyes, they blazed a bright blue, similar the one she sees in the mirror in her dreams, but colder, and angrier._

 _Even though his eyes are angry, he's grinning like a madman, but it's not the warm grin he used to give her, no, this one is as cold as his eyes, and the black fog that seems to roll off him like steam from a shower._

 _He says something to her, voice half-similar to what it used to be, but the words are garbled by the distorted pitch of his new voice, and even if they weren't, the blood is pumping through her veins, so strong that it's all she hears._

 _She looks down, and shockingly, sees the black fog wrapping itself around her legs, turning them a similar shade, but also a sort of white, or grey._

 _Another voice cuts through the air, feminine, and loving, but the loving is overpowered by fear. She screams for someone to run, and leave, but she doesn't, not yet._

 _And then his eyes turn to the other voice, and the other voice screams again, so this time she really does run, and bursts out into the night air._

 _Behind, he tries to follow, but the darkness has already enveloped her, and taken her away to safety._

 _It still doesn't remove the fear._

 **Metropolis  
** **Team Year Two  
** **May 30, 02:27 EST**

Siobhan shot up, a cold sweat breaking out across her skin. That dream, that godforsaken dream, it wouldn't let up.

She looked over for the time. Two thirty in the morning. If she didn't get a hold of these nightmares, she may just die of sleep deprivation, and wouldn't _that_ be ironic. Metropolis' personal demon-vigilante, killed by 'bad dreams'.

She sighed, or rather growled, but it felt like she sighed nonetheless, and swung her legs out over the edge of her bed.

She had forgotten to close the blinds on her bedroom window, apparently, and had a clear view of the street below. She was fortunate enough to get an apartment that actually _had_ a view, even if all she could see was the road, whatever or whoever was out on it, and the building opposite, another apartment complex that tended to house people with... questionable morals.

Siobhan stood up, stretching her back until a crack and pop relieved the tension in her spine. Her mattress was absolute crap, but at least better than the floor.

After fishing for a shirt to pull on, one that smelt of sweat, whiskey, and all manner of things from whatever dive bar she had played in last, she stepped out into the rest of her apartment, which was bathed in the glow of the T.V, which she had forgotten to turn off.

The late night news was on, which was just fine for her purposes, so she left it as such, and grabbed her laptop to continue composing the songs she had been stuck on for the last five days

But her concentration broke when a breaking news report came up on the T.V of the murder of a well-to-do businessman in Gotham City.

"According to the coroners report, the victim _was_ murdered, and found with an obliterated aural system, constricted muscles, and other physiological symptoms that have been described as a 'fear response'."

Siobhan looked up at the T.V, feeling shocked, intrigued, and all too scared, "No," she whispered to herself.

"One witness described the culprit as six feet tall, Caucasian, with long black hair, another said he was 'white as snow' and had 'eyes like blue lights'. The police are currently investigating..."

Siobhan stopped listening as soon as she heard the description, and grabbed the sides of her head, "No no no no!" She groaned.

Standing, she didn't even bother with changing before going silver, and climbing out onto the fire-escape below her window. She needed to get to Gotham.

* * *

 **A/N So, do we want a Silver Banshee origin story like what Metallo got?**


	16. Mark The Graves

**A/N So, a little late, I know, but here it is anyway. I tried a new approach to an origin story in this one, the idea was inspired by a review I got, where someone had some pretty cool ideas, so thanks to that guest reviewer, whoever you are.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

 _"_ _There's a fragile game we play  
_ _With the ghosts of yesterday  
_ _If we can't let go, we'll never say goodbye  
_ _No trace of what remains  
_ _No stones to mark the graves  
_ _Only memories we thought we could deny_ _."  
_ _-Mark The Graves_ by _Linkin Park._

* * *

 **Gotham City  
** **May 30, 03:00 EST**

It had been a while since he last investigated a murder. Recently, the World's Greatest Detective had become more of the World's least active one, but tonight that changed.

Normally, he would have left this kind of case to the GCPD, but something was wrong with it, he could feel it, he just needed proof, and to find out what.

Back in the Bat Cave, Dick was manning the Bat-computer. On a recent mission, he had suffered a broken leg, so Bruce decided to sideline him from hero-work, and allow him to stay home from school for a few days. Naturally, he had protested, and wanted to do something to help Bruce tonight, so the man relented and allowed Dick to work from the Bat-cave.

"Robin, I need you run a background check for anyone who may have wanted Lacey dead," he ordered into his earpiece. A positive grunt filtered through in response.

About two to three hours ago, Tony Lacey, a wealthy man who ran a medium-sized insurance company was killed in his own office, and discovered by employees. The strange thing was that none of them saw somebody follow Lacey into his office, and the window behind was intact.

 _"I've got nothing, he doesn't have enemies, no direct competitors, spotless criminal record, he's just a guy."_

"Then how about the symptoms, can we account for Dr. Crane?" There was a possibility that Scarecrow did this, according to the 'fear response' Lacey had suffered just before his death.

 _"Yeah, he's still locked up tight, couldn't have been him."_

"It's not anybody ye know of" a gruff distorted voice called from behind.

Batman whirled around on the intruder, readying a batarang, but came face to face with the bright blue eyes of the Silver Banshee, a vigilante who had been working Metropolis for a few years now.

"How would you know?" He didn't disarm. Just because the Banshee was a 'hero,' it didn't mean they were friendly.

"My first hint would be his obliterated aural system. Ever come across someone who can do that? Barring Black Canary and myself."

"No... But if that's the case, what rules _you_ out?"

"I'm not six feet tall, and my hair's grey, not black. But whoever did this..." They trailed off, looking away. "I'm here to help ye. I want to track this person down just as much as ye."

"Why? We aren't in Metropolis," he frowned.

"Let's say I have a... personal stake."

"I still don't see much reason to trust you."

"Then don't. Whether yer with me, or against, I'm going to track down Lacey's killer."

The two stared each other down for a few seconds, until the Dark Knight relented.

"If you want to help, then first we need a lead." He was willing to work with the Banshee for now, but he would remain wary.

"Then I need to see the body. We can meet up at the morgue" she didn't allow room for reply, as she seemed to poof into a cloud of black and silver smoke, and reappear on the roof of the building opposite Lacey's office window.

 **McDougal Manor, Ireland  
** **2002  
** **June 15, 09:20 IST**

 _She's standing in a dark, cold hallway. The wallpaper along it's dank, rotting wood is mostly peeled off, or faded, or otherwise ruined, and the threadbare rug below her feet is filled with holes. She swore a bug skittered across it moments ago._

 _Along the walls, portraits of men and women, her ancestors, seem to be staring down at her with their icy blue eyes. It was a family trait to have bright blue eyes._

 _All the way from her grandmother, Marianne Smythe, to her ancestor, Siobhan McDougal._

 _She looks down to the end of the hallway, where a thin beam of light has suddenly split the darkness. At the other end, an old, cracked door sits slightly open, allowing a thin blade of light to spill out._

 _She moves towards the door, ignoring the way that the portraits seem to change, and turn into something... else. At the very end, just before the door, two empty frames sit, each with a name plate proudly screwed into the bottom, still shining, and new. They read S. Smythe and G. Smythe._

 _She reaches out and grabs onto the door handle, and jerks it open. Inside stands a lone mirror, and a beam of light, like a spotlight, just in front._

 _She steps into the light, and stares at her reflection, except it isn't her._

 _Her pale skin is now either a deathly white, or a deep black. Her face looks more like a skull than a girl, and her eyes, they're pure, icy, cold, shining blue._

And the eyes wake her up suddenly, bringing her back into her room, where the walls are decorated with posters of rock bands, and an American flag.

She sits up, and tries to wipe the sweat of her brow. Then the door opens, and her heart's beats speed up, but a soft calming voice slows them down again.

"Happy birthday Siobhan," her mother quietly greets.

 **Gotham City  
** **May 30, 03:30 EST**

Of all the places in Gotham City, somehow, Gotham City General, one of it's largest hospitals, was also one of the brightest, and most cheerful buildings in the city. How very ironic.

Of course, when a tall woman-shaped demon stepped through the automatic doors, her mere presence beginning to coat the floor of her immediate surroundings with a thin layer of black smoke, that somewhat bright feeling drained.

Patient, doctor and visitor alike all stared openly at the strange... Thing. Some recognised it from the news, some had no idea who or what it was, but she paid them no mind, and silently walked through the now still room.

She approached a nurse at a desk, who gaped and paled at Siobhan's approach, but swallowed a lump in her throat. "H-h-how can I help you?" She stuttered, shaking slightly.

"Where is the mortuary?" Siobhan asked.

"Uh, down the left hallway, to the elevator, sub-basement two."

Siobhan nodded, and wordlessly followed the directions until she reached a bank of elevators. Pressing the button on one, she stood back to wait until an elevator, crammed with a handful of nurses and doctors, opened up, which she squeezed into, and hit the button for her destination, which was not yet lit up.

She rode it down silently, and stepped out into a sterile hallway lit up by a line of fluorescent lights that made her head ache a little, before her healing abilities soothed the ache.

She walked through silent halls, keeping her eyes on directory signs that hung above her, until she found the morgue at the end of a wide hallway, past a few autopsy rooms.

Inside, a lone morgue worker in blue scrubs stained slightly with dried blood inspected a body she couldn't quite recognise, carefully prodding at the cadaver, and writing his observations in a notepad.

Siobhan confidently stepped into the room, allowing the door to thump shut loudly behind her, and drawing the attention of the lone doctor, while she stepped towards the bank of lockers holding other cadavers inside.

"Uh, y-you can't be in here!" The doctor stuttered.

Siobhan ignored him and continued to march over to the wall of lockers, scanning each for a name.

"Uh, excuse me? I said you can't-"

"Where is Tony Lacey?" She suddenly asked, cutting him off.

"What?"

"Tony Lacey, which locker is his?" She demanded.

"Oh, uh, I can't just-"

"I suggest you tell us where Lacey's body is." A second, deep, male voice interrupted from the doorway. Turning around, both saw that Batman had indeed followed Siobhan to the hospital, and then into the morgue.

"Batman?" The doctor was in complete awe.

"We need to inspect his body for our murder investigation, please," Batman explained.

"Oh, well, I thought the police were already lookin' into it?" The doctor asked.

"The police can try, but they won't get far," Banshee replied.

"Okay? Uh here, I'll just..." He trailed off and pulled out the body of an old man, whose face seemed frozen in fear, eyes wide open, and mouth agape in a silent scream.

"If we could have some privacy?" Batman urged the doctor to leave, who complied, reluctantly.

The two heroes then went about prodding at and inspecting the body for a few minutes, focussing on his ears and face. Indeed, his muscles did seem frozen in place, and shining a small light into one ear showed that the entire interior was visibly destroyed.

"I have an idea... It'll look weird, but trust me," Siobhan suddenly told Batman. Without looking up, she leaned in close to Lacey's face, close enough that their foreheads almost touched, and lightly inhaled.

As she did, his eyes began to shine a light blue, the light growing brighter and brighter, until the lights seemed to come out of his eyes and merge into one small sphere that hovered between their faces.

Siobhan retracted her head, and allowed the sphere of light to dissipate. She sighed quietly, "dammit."

A small beep from Batman's utility belt drew their attention elsewhere.

"What is it?" the Dark Knight asked, placing a hand to an earpiece in his cowl. A few seconds later, he turned to Siobhan.

"There's been another murder, 229 Stone Street, the same circumstances as Lacey," he reported.

Siobhan nodded, and the two left the morgue to investigate, but before she stepped out through the door, she turned to peer back at the room full of death, and bodies. It was not the first time she had to deal with death.

 **McDougal Manor, Ireland  
** **2004  
** **May 30, 00:00 IST**

He was gone. Just yesterday he had been so happy and there and now he was just... gone.

The doctors, and her mother, had said he wouldn't have suffered. They all said that, when the truck hit him, it was over instantly, but that made no sense.

Only twelve years old, and Siobhan already felt like a woman, and all she could think of was how goddamn _scared_ her father must have felt when he saw the truck coming.

They're surrounded by friends and family, a relatively small number, as his coffin is lowered into the ground beside all the rest, in the family graveyard behind the house.

That night, Siobhan dreams of the hallway again, as she had been periodically for years now, and just before she opens the door to the hallway where the Banshee is waiting, hoping to speak with her, she notes how there is now only one empty frame left. G. Smythe now holds a painting of her dead father.

Then she wakes up, and it's only been a couple of hours since the ceremony, and when she opens the blinds to look into the back yard, she sees brilliant, bright blue lights dancing around in the distance, where the graveyard lays.

 **Gotham City  
** **May 30, 04:10 EST**

Stone Street was in the industrial section of Gotham, where tall smoke-spewing factories loomed over them, and plunged the streets into darkness by blocking the moonlight.

Batman took a gamble by allowing the Silver Banshee to ride alongside him in the Batmobile, but it had paid off, as she spent the entire trip staring at her own hands, wringing them together. He didn't ask why.

They arrived on the scene of the murder, a plastic factory, which the door had been blown off of. Around it, police cars and tape kept the public out, and ambulances made trips moving injured workers away from the scene.

As the sight of the Dark Knight, a police officers held up a section of tape for the two heroes to step in, and Batman led them to an older man with a greying moustache.

"Commissioner," he nodded.

"Batman," the man returned. Siobhan recognised Commissioner Gordon, as anybody within two states of Gotham should. The city had always been a cesspool of crime, but once it had been far worse, and then Gordon was made commissioner, which was followed by an extreme decrease in crime, Batman's criminal record being wiped, effectively recognising him as the great hero he is, and reports of police corruption all but vanishing.

"Uh, I'm afraid I don't recognise you, ma'am." This didn't surprise or upset Siobhan, none of the major Metropolis news groups ran stories on her, choosing instead to place all hero-worship on the shoulders of Superman, and in more recent months, Supergirl too.

"They call me the Silver Banshee," she explained. Gordon flinched a little at her unexpectedly deep and distorted voice, but she gave him props for holding his ground, and maintaining eye contact.

"Well, a pleasure to meet you. I assume you want a casualty report first?" He asked the Caped Crusader beside her.

"If you wouldn't mind."

"Well, surprisingly there's only been one death, same circumstances as Tony Lacey's earlier tonight, which I'm sure you knew. It's strange because this guy attacked two dozen late night workers, and all of them walked away with minor injuries."

"Is there anyone we can talk to?" Batman asked.

"Uh, yeah, Mark Graves over there was on supervising duty tonight, he's refused to be taken to a hospital until this scene is sorted out, he may cooperate."

Batman nodded and led Siobhan over to a large man who was sitting on the back of an open ambulance.

"Batman?" He looked up, surprised, as they approached.

"Mr. Graves, I need you to recount the details of what happened tonight, if you can."

The man didn't seem surprised at the request, and immediately explained about how, not too long ago, a tall man in black busted into he factory, and assaulted all of his workers. He had managed to hold his own against all two dozen of them, without even taking a blow, before letting out some kind of ultra-loud scream, which had killed the worker.

"The weird thing is that, just before he killed Nicky, he said somethin' about his 'little girl' or whatever."

This is exactly what Siobhan feared. She grabbed Batman's arm, and moved him away. "We should leave," she told him, "we won't find anything new here."

"How do you know?" Batman asked.

"Because whoever attacked Lacey and this guy is trying to lure someone out, I think, and we're only gonna find him by..." She sighed, "by waiting for his next strike."

"You mean his next kill."

She sighed, "yeah."

While he hated to admit it, she had sound logic, but he wasn't very willing to allow someone else to die tonight. Fortunately, the call wasn't up to him, as a small beep from his belt sounded.

"Robin?" He asked, putting his hand to his cowl again. "A third murder already, this one picked up on a cctv camera, the police will be on their way soon," he explained.

"Then let's see what happens if we beat 'em there."

 **New York  
** **2006  
** **May June 10, 09:20 EST**

She still wasn't used to this place, it just wasn't home. Then again, what was even home for her? Surely, an American foster home was better than the demons of her old life.

Mister and Missus Cain were nice enough, even though she hadn't told anybody why she fled to America. As a matter of fact, it was incredible that she had made it this far anyway. She was just a fifteen year old girl, and already she had managed to find passage from Ireland, to New York, and have herself taken in by a foster family.

She didn't talk much, she even heard whispers that some people thought she didn't know how, but she could speak, and did so at length, with the Banshee in her dreams.

That night she goes to sleep, and dreams of the hallway. Her and the Banshee talk about America, and then hatch a brilliant idea.

Tomorrow night, she would let the Banshee out.

 **Gotham City  
** **May 30, 05:00 EST**

The night's third victim turned out to be some street punk, which pretty much confirmed that the only correlation between the three victims was that they had been scared, and then killed in such a way that their aural system was torn to shreds.

From the Batcave, Robin sent the footage he had managed to hijack of the murder. It was low quality, and shot from across the street, but what they could see was a tall man mostly hidden in the shadows standing over a cowering young man at his feet, before letting out a screech to powerful it was visible, before it destroyed the camera itself.

They arrived at the new scene to find the street empty, aside from the body in the middle of the road, with blood dripping from his ears, and pooling around his head. His face conveyed pure terror.

"He won't be that far, and if my theory is right, he'll be more than willing to confront us," Banshee explained, moving towards an alleyway nearby, where she assumed the killer had come from.

"You're going to have to explain to me _why_ you're so interested in this case," Batman told her.

"And I will, but-" she was cut off by a deafening scream, blasting them from the darkness of the alley. It was weaker than what had been used to kill Lacey, the worker, and the guy behind them, but enough that Batman dropped to the ground, and groaned softly as he lost consciousness.

Siobhan, however, was immune to such an attack, and braced herself and a low mocking chuckle echoed off the brick walls around her. Slowly, footsteps thumped from the darkness ahead. From the darkness emerged a tall man with black hair that seemed to flicker above his head like a flame, an equally black coat that covered all of his body barring head and hands, and pale almost white skin. Smoke, or black fog rolled off him in waves, but the most prominent feature was his eyes. Bright, piercing blue, shining like christmas trees, without the warmth, a reflection of her own.

"Siobhan, my little banshee" he grinned menacingly, "how nice of you to show up like this."

" _Who_ or _what_ the hell are ye?" She demands of the dark figure.

"Siobhan, please, surely you recognise me?" He grins.

"No. You are _not_ him, because he's buried in the ground, in Ireland, and yer here, so who are ye?" She growls.

"True, I will admit that I have undergone a change since then, but if you truly refuse to call your old man by the title he deserves, then most in the old country liked referring to me as the _Black Banshee."_

"What do ye want? Why are ye here?" She demanded.

"Now now, is that any way to speak to your father?"

Batman began stirring on the ground. If he came to, he'd know she was the child of a monster, so she did what made sense, and gave a swift kick to his head to make sure he stayed unconscious.

"Well now, attacking our own allies? I can't say I'm disappointed."

"Leave Gotham City, leave America, I don't care _where_ ye go, just leave!" She demanded.

"But Siobhan, my little girl-"

"I am _not_ yer daughter, and I'm not afraid."

His grin turned into a frown, and he considered her for a moment.

"No, I suppose you're not the same girl as you once were, but make no mistake, you _are_ afraid." He took a few steps backward, beginning to melt into the shadows, "I'll see you soon, _Silver Banshee."_ Moments later, Siobhan was alone in the alley with the unconscious Batman, and she could feel her heart slow, as she let out a breath she had been keeping in.

She woke Batman and moved them up to a rooftop somewhere to speak more privately. Once he had fully come to, he turned to her in masked confusion.

"We found the murderer, he knocked ye out, and I couldn't stop him" she explained, "it turns out he has similar power to my own, he's a..."

"A Black Banshee?"

She nodded, and then her gaze snapped to him in shock, but all he did was stand, nod in return, and walk away, leaving her alone on the rooftop.

 **Metropolis  
** **2009  
** **January 8, 12:30 EST**

The park was quiet, and mostly empty, which was good. She liked quiet, empty places, as she could just sit down, collect her thoughts, and silence the voice in her head for a few more hours.

She walked to her favourite spot, a bench just in front of a stature of Superman, but found it occupied by a bored looking brunette woman, who wore 'out-of-style' clothing, somewhat large glasses, and was staring up at the stone Superman with a strange face, leaning her elbows on her knees.

Determined not to let her presence ruin Siobhan so far good day, the Irishwoman sat down beside her slouched form and reclined on the chair, also staring at the stony Kryptonian's face.

They both remained silent, and then Siobhan's curiosity got the better of her.

"Not a fan?" She asked the brunette.

She sighed, and shrugged, "you could say that." For two strangers, the exchange seemed quite comfortable.

"Never seen ye around here before," Siobhan noted.

"It's a big city," the mystery woman replied.

"But not that many have Metropolis University bags," the silver-haired woman nodded at the bag at her feet.

"A lot of students there."

"Nobody uses the bag beyond their first year, which means yer starting this year."

Brunette-girl was silent, "and why _should_ you have seen me?" She finally asked.

"Because I would have recognised someone as out of style as I am at the pre-term orientation day." Metropolis Uni was different as it offered a full day for all new first-year students to visit the school and tour the grounds so they could get acquainted with their new surroundings before the school term began.

"I'm out of style?" She suddenly asked, slightly distressed, "but I thought you humans _all_ dress in this stuff."

"Humans?" Siobhan smirked.

"I-I mean-"

"Relax," the Irishwoman held up a hand, "I get it. Sometimes, if yer different, it feels like yer also a different species," of course, she didn't need to know that Siobhan was different because she was cursed to host an ancient demon-spirit.

"Uh, yeah, I guess." The brunette calmed down.

They returned to silence again.

"I'm sorry, I'm just new to the... city, and I'm feeling a little on edge," the brunette apologised.

"It's cool, I'm from Ireland originally, so I had to learn the city on my own a while ago too." Siobhan considered an idea, "if ye want, I can show ye around? Get some lunch together, huh?" She suggested.

"Oh, sure" the brunette nodded. They stood up, and Siobhan lead the other woman towards a park exit.

"So, ye got a name?" She asked the brunette ash they walked.

"Oh, yes, I do" she turned slightly red, "it's Ka-a-uh, Linda! Linda Lang" she stuttered.

"Right... I'm Siobhan, Siobhan Smythe" the Irish woman stuck a hand out, which the brunette took gingerly.

"Alright then, pleasure to meet you Siobhan Smythe."

Linda seemed pretty cool, and honest to boot.

* * *

 **A/N I'm really worried that I'm not getting Siobhan's voice right... Meh.**


	17. Nowhere

**A/N Sorry it's late, and short, but things happened, so as a reward for being patient, I'm also uploading, and beginning, two more stories, in case any of you like Mass Effect and/or Teen Titans. Don't worry, I'm going to continue work on this, but doing one story for so long gets a bit stale, I don't want to end up hating it.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Washington D.C.  
** **March 15, 29:57 EST**

There were times when she really just wanted to strangle her best friend. Like, actually reach over and squeeze her throat until something snapped, or popped. Of course, even if things got to the point she really _was_ planning on doing so, she still wouldn't, because it wasn't very intelligent to strangle a... whatever she was.

Currently, the two young friends were waiting patiently (that patience was wearing thin) in a multi-story parking garage for whoever had contacted them with a lucrative job offer.

"I swear to god, if you don't stop that, I will murder you" she finally growled.

"Whoa, calm down hot-stuff, why're you so riled?" The girl beside her grinned triumphantly.

"You damn well know why" she muttered back.

"Is it because I keep doing _this..?"_ To demonstrated, she repeated the motion of running a stone along the side of her knife, creating the grating noise that had been irritating her constantly for the past half-hour.

"Rose!" She cried.

"Caitlin!" Rose mocked.

"You're not even doing it right!" Caitlin frowned.

"Hey, I don't tell you how to do smarty brain shit, and you don't tell me how to do kill-people shit, got it?" The girl raised one eyebrow expectantly, purposefully making sure it was the one above her left eye to further punctuate her point.

"Fine, but can you stop?"

Rose groaned, "but I'm so _bored!"_

"Just be patient. They'll be here soon, and then you can go sharpen as many knives as you want to." Just as she finished her sentence, a sleek black limousine rolled up to them, it's hood bearing a small but obvious 'L' ornament.

"Well, aren't _we_ ostentatious..." Rose muttered.

When the limo stopped just in front of them, a large man in a dark suit, his eyes covered by equally dark shades stepped out of the driver's seat. He moved and opened a back door, which Caitlin moved towards, but held out a hand to stop Rose before she could get too close, silently suggesting that only Caitlin was allowed.

"What? Dude, let me past!" she glared.

"Rose goes too, or I don't go at all" Caitlin threatened. The man looked at her for a moment, seemingly weighing the options, "are you _really_ going to risk your job over a girl's allowance to come with me?"

Grunting, the man allowed both Caitlin _and_ Rose, who blew a raspberry at the man as she passed, into the limo, before firmly closing the door behind them, and returning to the drivers seat.

Inside, there was a small minibar, which Rose immediately shot towards, and a folder with the details of the job, which Caitlin picked up to skim through.

"You keep going that way, and you'll ruin your seventeen-year-old liver" the redhead absentmindedly called out to her best friend.

Rose laughed derisively at the comment, "the little bitch can take it, I've had worse" she pointed at her left eye area to demonstrate, before going right back to emptying any drinks she could find, "this guy's weak, all he has is fancy crap without any _real_ alcohol in it" she noted.

"That's what rich people like to drink" Caitlin replied.

"Rich people suck. If _I_ were rich, I'd probably put most of my money towards making cool gadget crap for me to kick ass even harder with. be like Batman, but cooler, and hotter."

The drive continued in that way, with Rose coming up with mindless, and at times, even entertaining conversation, while Caitlin split her attention between reading the job debrief, and acknowledging her friend's already half-drunk ravings.

"Rose?" She suddenly called, halting a rant about... God knows what. The other girl stopped whatever she was doing, and looked over, "does this name seem familiar?" She handed over the file she was almost finished reading, and pointed out a doctor whom she thought she recognised.

"Doctor... Yeah, he does," Rose confirmed, "wasn't he working back at..." She trailed off, not needing to name the place.

"Yeah, I think so. With your dad, right?"

"Hm, yeah" she grumbled.

"Hey, I doubt we'll see your dad here, it's a genetics lab, not an assassin cult... You okay?" She asked, noting how her friend seemed more subdues than she had minutes ago.

"Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about stuff" she forced a smile, but Caitlin's eye travelled to the black eyepatch covering her left socket.

"Rose, he's not here, it's just me, it'll _always_ be me," Caitlin gently told her. Rose took a deep breath, and looked up to give a genuine smile to the redhead, who smiled back at her best friend.

"So, who or where are we heading to anyways?" The white-haired girl asked.

"Some genetics lab, I was contacted by Lex Corp."

"Whoa, you mean the anti-Superman baldy Lex?"

"The very same," Caitlin confirmed. "He called about some major job opportunity, asked if I would prioritise scientific advancements over common morals, the usual 'I want you to join an evil plan' schtick."

"And you're cool with being accessory to a possible super-villain plot?"

"Hey, if it puts food on the table, and gets us to the next day, I can live with some questionable morals."

"Just... Just promise you wont get too deep. I like to have an out, and a genetics lab doesn't scream friendly to me, not since all that stuff on the news from a couple years ago."

"They're scientists, and _you_ were trained by a world-class mercenary-slash-assassin. We _always_ have an out."

Rose's counter-argument was halted when the limo lurched to a stop. The driver's door could be heard opening, and his heavy footsteps made their way around to the rear of the limo, where the door beside Caitlin was opened for them.

They stepped out to face what was clearly the rear of a building, and no discernible landmarks around them to identify their location. The large driver escorted them to a door on the building's side, and not-so-gently nudged them in, earning two dirty glares.

Inside, a tall well-dressed man, his head bald like a baby, flanked by a _very_ cold looking woman.

"Caitlin Fairchild, a pleasure to finally meet you," he greeted, extending a hand.

She took it firmly, "and you, Mr. Luthor. I hope you don't mind, but I brought my personal... Security." She waved a hand toward Rose beside her, who idly fingered the knife in her belt.

"Not at all, it would by hypocrisy to do so," he also gestured the woman beside him. "But, with introductions neatly dealt with, I feel we can get straight to business, follow me."

He led the group down some narrow hallways to a single elevator. "Our high-speed express elevators will make travel to and from your new job _far_ easier," he explained with no small amount of pride.

"High-speed, this place can't be more than two stories?" Rose raised one eyebrow.

"Upwards, maybe." Luthor cryptically agreed while they waited. The elevator dinged open, and they stepped in. Beside the door, Luthor input their destination, and the elevator shot downwards unexpectedly.

"This building has over fifty sub-levels. Many of which have been cut off, so that reparations can be made following a recent change in leadership. It should be said, there is a risk of external factors interfering with your work, in which case your soon-to-be colleague cam brief you on safety protocols."

 _"Classic Super-villain,"_ Thought Rose as they descended.

The finally stopped on sub-level 52, and stepped out into an unsettlingly red and organic looking hallway. "I hope you can forgive the aesthetics, they shouldn't impede on your work."

"It's okay, I was just... Surprised," Caitlin assured him.

Luthor led them all through the hallways to a large blast door, and inout a code so that it began to slowly slide open. "In here is Project Pygmalion, our chiefest and highest-priority operation. Previously, we had housed a different experiment within, a weapon of sorts, but our security was compromised, and increased tenfold. You'll be working alongside Doctor-"

"Luthor, are we _really_ giving _children_ access to such a project as this?" Interrupted a scientist inside. He was hunched over a console beside the large project at the centre of the room, and staring daggers at the two girls.

Caitlin didn't need to look to know Rose had opened her mouth to protest, so instead she shot an arm out to signal for the girl to stop, while the redhead opened her own mouth. Before any words could come out, however, the bald man beside them spoke up.

"Doctor, I understand your reluctance to allow such young women access to Project Pygmalion, but I assure you, miss Fairchild is a prodigy of the sciences, a truly brilliant mind, willing to work alongside you."

"And the cyclops?" The doctor frowned, ignoring Rose's glare.

"Trust me, Rose is my closest friend and offers a lot to the security of your project," Caitlin assured.

"Yeah, anybody tries to get in or out without permission gets sliced in half" she unsheathed the sword on her back a little as demonstration.

"Well, that won't be a very helpful mindset when _Superman_ comes knocking through here, will it?"

"Actually, Rose is a meta-human. If _anybody_ can bring down a fully powered Kryptonian, it's her," Caitlin replied.

The scientist still looked unsure, so Luthor placed a hand on his shoulder, "doctor, please, have some faith in them. I'm sure these girls can be trusted, can't they?" The last words were directed to the girls in question.

"Yeah, we can, so suck it up and start playing with the team" Rose nodded.

"Good, and if they can't, we have contingencies," Luthor left following the comment, allowing Caitlin and the doctor to pick up work on the project once more, while Rose dragged a stool over, and plopped into it, watching them work.

Before he left, Luthor turned back to them all one last time. "And girls? Welcome to Cadmus."

* * *

 **Second Disclaimer: I do not, under amy circumstance, condone drinking under the legal age, and would like to point out that the character in this chapter who does, is somewhat of a primary to tertiary antagonist, and so embodies undesirable behaviour.**

 **A/N And with** _ **that**_ **disclaimer out of the way, I can ask what everyone thinks of Rose and Caitlin, and who they are, and what importance they play. Fans of the comics will most likely recognise Rose, and readers of the New 52 Superboy series will be even more familiar with her and Caitlin, and how they know each other.**


	18. Crushed

**A/N So, it's very late, and I'm so so sorry, but exam period isn't kind, and life sometimes takes priority.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Gold Coast, Australia  
** **June 1, 13:40 AEST**

"We should really be bringing Miss Martian on more of these missions," Donna noted, mostly to herself, but it had been silent in the bio-ship before she said so.

"And why is that?" Tempest asked her.

"Her telepathy. I find it strange that with her powers uniquely geared towards covert team operations, she doesn't seem to come with us all that much."

"Well, I promise she will next time," Supergirl distractedly called out to the Amazonian.

"Kara? You seem troubled?" Aqualad asked gently from the pilot's seat. He wasn't wrong, she was troubled. In the past few days, Silver Banshee had been getting sloppy in her work around Metropolis. Then, she hears reports of her being seen around Gotham, which took place around the same time as three men were killed in ways that seemed _very_ possible with her powers and physical attributes.

Add to that a rapidly growing workload at University, her increasing guilt at taking advantage of Lana's hospitality over the years without even so much as getting a job, and how Aqualad was acting _far_ more interested and caring for her to the point of it being irritating, and there was a recipe for a _lot_ of stress within the young Kryptonian.

"Yeah I... I'm just dealing with a bunch of issues right now guys, it's cool," she told the team.

"Kara, we are all here for you, you know that," he reminded her.

"Yeah, I know."

Behind her to the right, Garth and Tula tuned out of the interaction with the original team members to engage each-other in conversation. Their tenure on the team had so far been without issue. Barring the early troubles between Kaldur and Garth, and Kaldur's feelings for Tula, the only problems they had really faced was an incapacitating injury or two over the months.

Another who had only joined the team a short while ago, but was finding their stay quite hospitable, was Wonder Girl, Donna Troy. She had quickly struck a close relationship with Superboy, the two bonding over being clones, living in the shadows of their family, and being the team's powerhouses. Their friendship had extended quickly to the point where even Kara considered Donna somewhat of a younger sister.

Of course, the Atlantean duo's time on the team hadn't all been smooth sailing, so it stood to reason that neither would the Amazonian's. She hadn't failed to notice the strange looks M'gann sometimes gave her, especially when spending time with Connor, and so had vowed to soon have a talk with the Martian, and reassure her that her relationship was more like two cousins than secret lovers. Rest assured, she could understand why the young Martian may have feelings of jealousy, even subconsciously.

But aside from the minor issues between M'gann and Donna, the latter had formed a sisterly bond with all of the girls on the team. The collection of varying strengths without a man in sight reminded her strongly of home, and each of them were quite a bit like her old friends and trainers on Themyscira.

Artemis was just like the warrior of the same name, strong and fierce, but a little arrogant or aggressive. Zatanna and Rocket, she had noticed, were very close. She had learned it was because they had bonded over being the only members who weren't part of the original group, up until Garth and Tula. Then there was Supergirl, the team's Princess Diana. A fearless leader, for the most part, as she was often reminding them that Aqualad was indeed the team's leader, but she was still bold, and a true role model, which may have been why Donna felt so close to her, as she was so much like the Amazonian's _real_ sister, but could share her displeasure of their older mentors/family members overshadowing them.

"Remind me again what the mission is?" Asked Superboy. He didn't even know what they were doing, as he had simply entered the cave's ops area earlier to find Batman and Supergirl finishing up a briefing to Wonder Girl and the Atlanteans. Seeing her cousin enter, Kara made the decision then and there that he would be accompanying them too.

Aqualad input something into a control panel to the side of him, and a screen opened up above them with the mission briefing, and a map of the pacific ocean.

"Various cities along the coasts of the Pacific ocean have recently been attacked by what all accounts have described as a large shark-man. Aquaman believes it could be an old foe of his, Nanaue, or as some know him, 'King Shark'," Aqualad told him.

An image came up on the screen of a large blue skinned man, who was clearly strong enough to take on a Leaguer on his own, but with the head of a great white shark, and a fin on the back of his neck.

"Normally Nanaue keeps to his own around the Hawaiian Islands, according to Aquaman's reports, but somethings got him angry, and he's already attacked towns in New Zealand, Japan, Northern Argentina, and other countries," explained Kara, "Batman looked into it, and he thinks Australia's next."

"Do we know _why_ he's like this?" Asked Tula.

"My guess would be a blood rage," Garth shrugged.

"It _is_ strong possibility," Kaldur agreed.

"A blood rage?" Asked Donna. She knew a lot about beasts most considered 'mythical,' but this Nanaue was an enigma, even to her.

"Like what happens if some breeds of shark catch the scent of blood, a creature like King Shark can fall into a blood rage," explained Aquagirl.

"Basically, he'll be in this enraged state, hunting and attacking coastal towns and cities until he gets what he wants, or we stop him," Tempest followed up.

"And since we don't _know_ what he wants..." There was no real reason for Connor to finish his sentence.

The flight continued in a sort of comfortable silence, before settling on a wide, open stretch of beach, and opening for the team to step out onto the sand.

"Strange..." Donna muttered.

"What is?" Garth asked.

"You would assume that, by this time, the beach would be full of people."

"Maybe it's just a slow day?" Kara shrugged. A distant roar made their heads snap towards the city beyond the beach.

"Or maybe he beat us here," Connor frowned.

Taking point, Kara and Donna took to the skies, and shot into the city, while Connor followed, leaping after them.

"Maybe we should stay here, let the others bring Nanaue here, where we can use the ocean to our advantage?" Tula suggested.

"No, we have to help them," Kaldur denied, already sprinting towards the city. Garth and Tula shared a slightly worried look, and followed after him.

The three Atlanteans caught up with their teammates as they just engaged King Shark, Connor attempting a more direct approach, by fully fighting the massive shark-man, while the other two tried to lure him back to where they'd come from.

"Hey! Up here!" Kara called from high above him. The shark halted its attack on the other Kryptonian in front of him, and snarled, starting to move towards the blonde.

Suddenly, a metal pole smashed Shark in the side of his head. His eyes snapped to the attacker, finding Wonder Girl hovering on the other side of the road, also trying to gain his attention. Snarling once more, the large fish-man moved towards her instead, only for a third enemy to steal his attention away.

This time, the attack came from below, as Aqualad entered the battle, his Atlantean teammates following somewhat reluctantly. King Shark growled, but this time the noise had a pleased tone to it, as he realised, while the two girls before were flying just out of reach, (and he had noticeably forgotten all about Connor), this new prey was _well_ within his ability to attack.

Rather than move directly for them, Nanaue lifted one large foot up, and stomped into the ground with a surprising amount of strength considering his still rather humanoid height, sending a small quake towards the trio of Atlanteans, who were frozen in shock.

Donna and Kara reacted immediately, the former throwing her lasso around Tula and Garth, pulling the, up off the ground together, while Kara tackled Kaldur. All five flew back to the beach, moving out of Nanaue's sight.

"What are you doing?" Donna demanded of them.

"We were helping with the battle," Kaldur explained.

"You should've stayed here, while Supergirl, Superboy and I lured King Shark into range of your water-focussed attacks," the Amazonian told them.

Garth and Tula remained silent.

Suddenly, a distant smacking, followed by an equally distant sound yell stole their attention, as Connor was sent flying out of the city, to the beach just a short ways further down from them. Following _that,_ came Nanaue's massive form, leaping from amongst the buildings, following his enemy.

The massive fish-man landed on the beach with a loud booming sound, sending a spray of sand out above them both from the massive impact.

"We can discuss this later, but we need to stop him," Kara interrupted. The moment she was finished speaking, she shot over to aid her cousin in fighting King Shark, going into to spear him sideways.

The two moved along the ground, digging a groove in the beach as they moved. Once their movement ended, Kara took the opportunity to fly up into the air, and angle back down, drilling herself into Nanue's abdomen, who grunted from the attack.

Next, Donna re-joined the fray, unlatching her lasso to throw it around Shark's fist, just as it lifted to squish the Kryptonian kneeling on his gut. The Amazonian tugged it back, and then flew over to the other side of him, forcing the arm to cross of his chest.

Following that, Connor stood back up, and leapt to Donna's side, throwing his hands up just in time to grab onto Shark's other fist, which was about smack the Amazonian girl. Maintaining his powerful grip on the large hand, Connor jumped over Nanaue, helping Wonder Girl to keep his arms crossed over.

Now, the three Atlantean's moved in for an attack.

First, Kaldur and Tula moved to the shore of the beach, and summoned the water to form a massive section into a pair of giant club-like structures, before bringing them down on the crossed arms of Nanaue, damaging both arms and his chest.

As this took place, Garth summoned his tempest abilities, and lifted himself off the ground on a pedestal of water. Forming another massive chunk of water into a hammer, he then froze it solid, and brought it down towards Nanaue's chest and arms.

But before the icy weapon could connect, Nanaue broke free of his bindings, summoning pure desperate strength for the movement. With one thrust, he threw both arms back across himself, flinging Superboy and Wonder Girl involuntarily flying, and sat up. Behind him, the ice hammer smashed harmlessly into the sand where he once lay, but King Shark was unperturbed, as he glared down at the small Kryptontian girl who had initiated the attack.

Sweeping his right arm across where she stood, he smacked her away like a fly. The girl was helpless as her body cut through the air, completely caught off guard by Nanaue's sudden burst of strength, but found herself focussing back on the situation when her brief flight was cut short by what felt like someone catching her midair.

Indeed, that is what it was, as Kaldur had taken the opportunity to basically abandon his Atlantean friends, and instead move to catch Kara before she hit he ground. Once he gently set her down on her feet, she fixed an incredulous glare on him.

"What are you doing!? You need to help your team!" She pointed over at the two teens who were now stuck facing an enraged King Shark on their own. Without the help of the rest of the group, both quickly succumbed to Nanaue's attack, and found themselves almost crushed under his hands and arms.

Fortunately, before the fish-man could administer any real pressure to the massive weight atop them, Donna recovered from where she lay, and flew over to boot him in the side, her strength flicking him into an upward arc, before coming back down towards Connor, who had also recovered.

As King Shark dropped to an acceptable height, the clone boy jumped up, and spun around, bringing his joined fists in a full arc to meet with his enemy's gut, combining strength and momentum to throw Nanaue back towards the rest of the group.

Breaking away from the once again chastised Aqualad, Kara shot into the air to deliver a third, and hopefully final blow, by stopping King Shark's flight with a spinning kick, that sent him rocketing the other way yet again, into a large rocky outcropping further down the beach.

He hit the rough, stony surface hard, and seemed to be downed, at least for the moment, allowing the entire team a moment to recover, before joining to rush him yet again as one contingent.

Noticing the attack just a moment earlier than the group would have liked, Shark pushed himself off the rocks and, rather unsteadily, began picking up any loose debris around him her could to start throwing them at the group.

It was easy enough to avoid his attacks at first, but as smaller rocks gave way to larger boulders, they all found themselves being given less and less time to react to the next. It was only a matter of time before one large rock caught both Tula and Garth, effectively taking them out of the fight for now.

Seeing their teammates fall, Donna and Connor also faltered in their steps for a split-second, which was enough for a second boulder to crash into them, and bring the charge down to two.

Realising this, Kara looked around, distracted, not realising that she was Nanaue's next target. Although, rather than attempt a direct attack, the fish-man instead tossed the boulder high into the air, so that it would arc back down, and crush the girl from above.

She didn't realise this was the case until it was too late, and looking up, she found herself in surprise at the new tactic, passively standing as the rock drew near. Then a thought entered her mind, and she had an idea as to how they could intimidate King Shark, by showing how futile his efforts were.

Kara braced herself as she watched the boulder come down towards her, preparing for the impact. But it never came, at least not from above. A second force drilled directly into her side, pushing her away from the boulder's path. She fell to the ground, and looked up, realising that Kaldur had once again put himself at risk to 'help' her.

She growled, and shot to her feet. The boulder was moments away from landing, and crushing the Atalntean, when she took off into him, and tackled him away in return, the massive rock crushing where he had been standing just before.

"By the grace of Rao, _what_ is _wrong_ with you!?" She shouted at him, "you could have been killed!"

"I was trying to help, you weren't moving," he frowned, a little confused.

"I'm Kryptonian, indestructible, remember?" He sighed, and looked away, slightly embarrassed by how he had forgotten the information, "why are you so hellbent on acting like this... white knight?" She asked him, "actually, hold that thought, we need to stop King Shark first, _then_ you're going to explain yourself."

She turned back towards the enemy, and found that the rest of the team were back in the fight. Once more, Donna and Connor were grappling him, keeping his hands restrained so that Tula and Garth could barrage his chest and gut with a combination of water and ice.

Kara quickly formulated an attack plan, and hoped the others were as wise as she thought they were. Moving away from the still slightly embarrassed Kaldur, she took to the skies, and flew out over the ocean, then arced back towards the city, with King Shark in between the two.

Just before hitting her mark, she flipped forward, so she was moving feet first, and kicked Nanaue in the side, her strength and momentum powerful enough to blast him away from her, and barreling through the air for the city.

Just as the blonde hoped would happen, Garth instantly wised up to the situation, and rushed to erect a massive wall of ice in between King Shark and the city, which the fish-man smashed to pieces on his way through, but lost all momentum as he did, ending up prone on the sand.

Hoping to finish off Shark, Kaldur leapt for him, forming a large maul with his water-bearers, and bringing it down on Shark's head. The impact was fortunately enough, and Nanaue's head slumped back, the man-beast unconscious, ready for the League to retrieve.

The team regrouped, and exchanged congratulations or praise for the relatively short, but intense battle.

"Good work guys" Kara smiled, "you took him down, and with almost no collateral damage, barring that one street", she was genuinely proud of them, her cousin especially. But that smile dropped into a frown just a fast. "However, on to _you,"_ she turned on Kaldur next. "I'm not sure what's going on, but you need to stop. All of _this-"_ she waved over his general body, and the battleground around them, "-is calling your leadership and decision-making into question. You could have been crushed..." Her words trailed off once she came to the realisation... Indeed, he had _already_ been 'crushed.' "Wait, you... Oh by the grace of Rao I can _not_ deal with this right now," Kara sighed, rubbing her hands on her face. He liked her, as in he _liked_ her, which was an issue, for more reasons than a few reasons.

"Look... Guys, can you all go deal with Nanaue, I need to speak with Aqualad in private." The team nodded and walked away, a little confused, while Kara grabbed Aqualad's arm,and dragged him to an isolated part of the beach. They stood in silence, Kara trying to figure out how to approach this gently, and Aqualad waiting for her to speak.

"I..." She shook her head a little. "No, _you_ can't- no..." She sighed again, and rubbed her face. "Look, Kaldur... You're a great guy, one of the best I know, without a doubt, and I'm sure there's some girl in the world that will get to be your... significant other eventually, but... But that _cannot_ be me."

He frowned a little, considering how to reply. With denial? Or an argument. Ultimately, he decided there was no point in denying what she knew, and simply asked her, "why not?"

She was silent at first, once more trying to carefully choose her words. "Well, first of all, you're at _least_ three years younger than I am which is a big deal considering when I was a 20 year old university student, you were still high school student age. I'm also a member of the Justice League, with _very_ major responsibilities, while you still have to make time for combat training, and the biggest reason... I don't think of you that way, at all. You're like a younger brother to me, or a cousin, not... not anything more."

"I see," he frowned.

"I don't want this to change things between us, you're still my friend, and even if it takes you a little while to... I don't know, forget your feelings, I want us to _stay_ friends, understand?"

"I guess," he nodded. She couldn't identify what he was thinking, or feeling, so she gestured for them to regroup with the team.

"Well, good work guys, I'll make sure to tell Batman about today. But you go on without me, I'm gonna fly home myself," the blonde said. Before they could reply, she shot into the air. _"One problem down, about a million to go,"_ she grumbled in her mind.

* * *

 **A/N I'm really sorry for everyone who was rooting for Aqualad/Supergirl, and in a different direction, I would have pounced on that, but this needed to be done, you'll see, it's for the best.**


	19. I Appear Missing

**A/N So, one review piqued my interest, and now I'm really curious. Who** _ **do**_ **you ship Supergirl with in this universe? Hey, maybe it could become an actual thing, you never know.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 _"_ _Dancing on wire  
_ _Both ends are on fire  
_ _Cut me loose  
_ _Nowhere to run, no more room to pretend  
_ _Wandering along the road in the summer night_ _"  
_ _-I Appear Missing_ by _Queens of the Stone Age_

 **Metropolis  
** **June 3, 21:40 EST**

She stalked the rooftops, _her_ rooftops, like a big cat through the jungle. The dark sky was her tree canopy, the towering skyscrapers that filled they city were her tree-branch perches, and the criminals who still roamed through the night were her prey.

Only tonight they weren't. No, Metropolis' dreaded banshee was on the hunt for a greater prey, a deadlier prey, one that she was far too familiar with.

Ever since that night in Gotham, nightmares of the Black Banshee had plagued her, and it was having a significant effect on her life. Her grades were dropping, and her teachers were inquiring about her uncharacteristically low work quality. She was even pulling away from Linda, who was becoming increasingly concerned for her.

But until she found this demon, who had haunted her for years, whether she was aware of it or not, and until she slew him, Siobhan would not rest.

She blinked from one rooftop to the next, keeping her eyes and ears alert for any signs of that which she hunted. Ever since that night, when she worked alongside the iconic Batman, Black Banshee had been silent, not a single attack.

But she hadn't been. Hoping to send a message to her f... Her enemy, she had taken care to assault and bring down at least one criminal a night, and dress him up in a long black trench-coat and wig.

It hadn't had any immediately visible effect, but it had been therapeutic for her, and she felt more confident in her abilities to stop him than ever, so at least it wasn't a pointless effort.

The city really had been silent for a while now, in the sense that all of its cornerstone protectors, the Supers, weren't really making an effort to remain, electing instead to continue bringing justice to the far off reaches of the planet.

It wasn't their fault, to be fair, as the Justice League really did hold a lot of responsibilities, or at least she assumed it did, and it wasn't as if they thought they were abandoning Metropolis. She knew that Supergirl was, in some measure, entrusting her city in the supposedly capable hands of Siobhan. It was a mistake.

She didn't trust _herself_ to protect the city, not while Black Banshee was still out there.

Continuing to rush across the dark roofs, she finally came to a stop, and rested on the corner of one that overlooked the park. That very park had seen a surprising amount of battles over the years, and held the monuments to show.

Ever since the Metallo incident, a new statue had been erected, among the others of Superman, a memorial fountain, and other smaller constructions. This one was just a tall black obelisk, reaching just over eight feet, with a plaque that outlined its importance. There was already bird crap collecting on the top of it.

She sat down on the rooftop's corner, one leg dangling off the west side of the building, the other off the north, and she allowed herself a moment to just relax, and collect her bearings.

A voice then suddenly brought her back down to Earth.

"What's up?" She jumped a little, and looked behind her to find Supergirl standing, cross-armed, just a few feet back. She shrugged, and looked back out over the park.

Supergirl stepped closer, and sat down beside the Banshee. Neither girl made eye contact. "So, I've been hearing some interesting things lately..." The blonde continued.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Just a few days ago, three guys wound up dead in Gotham City, all them under circumstances that seem... disturbingly easy for your abilities, and on the same night, news reporters spot a Silver Banshee roaming around."

"It wasn't me," Siobhan quickly clarified, "trust me, it wasn't,"

Supergirl sighed, "I _want_ to believe that, but this is more than just a coincidence, and Batman's the only person who knows the truth."

"Yer right, it isn't a coincidence," Siobhan shrugged. "The _real_ killer, his name is Black Banshee by the way, is... Someone I know. He killed those people to get to me."

"And why did he want to get to you?"

"I... Don't know," she lied. It was bad enough that the Dark Knight knew of her relation to the _other_ Banshee, she didn't need it from a Super too.

"Alright, if that's the case, why don't we go out and beat up some criminals, yeah?" The blonde stood up.

"Can't. I'm busy doing something."

"Doing _what?"_

Siobhan sighed again, but decided the truth was the best option. "I'm lookin' for him. I need to find him, stop him."

Supergirl was silent for a second or two, "in that case, we'll do better finding him on the move, don't you think?"

"Yer gonna help?"

"Well duh, Metropolis is my home, and if some supernatural dirtbag wants to kill innocents just to get to my _friend,_ then he should be ready for a Kryptonian beating, now let's go find this guy," she urged.

"It's not that simple," Siobhan refused. She was, however, flattered that Supergirl wanted to help her so bad, "he wont come out for just any reason, and if he doesn't, there's no way we can track him down."

"Then why can't we go out and beat up some average, run-of-the-mill criminals?"

"Because I-" Siobhan cut herself off, realising that she was contradicting herself, by hunting down a man she just said couldn't be hunted down. "I... I think we _should_ go out, on second thoughts," she nodded.

A smile broke out across the Kryptonian's face, "great, this is gonna be fun, come on," she urged, already stepping off the roof to fly over to the next.

The Irishwoman hesitated for just a second, before blinking over to the rooftop after her, and then the next, the two flitting around the city on the lookout for any crimes in progress. It was how most young women would spend their evenings, if given the choice, but to Siobhan, there was no better way to spend it.

Their patrol turned out to be fruitful, fortunately, as they stumbled across a pair of men dressed all in black, rummaging through a bright red purse.

"Well, they certainly aren't creative," Siobhan shrugged.

"It's definitely stolen, I cam hear the owner shouting about it four blocks away," the blonde explained, "I'll handle these guys, you can take the next," she suggested. Siobhan nodded, and gestured for her to move.

The blonde dropped the ground lightly, and stood with her hands on both hips.

"Now boys, surely that doesn't belong to _you,"_ she called out. Both men dropped what they were doing, and pulled a pair of handguns on her.

"Stay back, don't move!" One ordered.

Kara raised one eyebrow at him, "seriously, a gun? You _do_ know what the 'S' means?"

"Crap, it's one of them supers!" The second thug warned his friend.

"What do we do?" The first asked.

"You mean what do _you_ do," the second corrected. His friend's confusion was turned into anger and surprise when the thug shoved him forward into the blonde, who caught him easily, and gave him a quick smack to knock him out. As the girl was occupied with taking care of his friend, the fleeing thug deftly climbed and leapt over a fence, sprinting down the rest of the alley they were in.

Kara moved up to the fence, and casually leaned against it, "I wouldn't go that way!" She called out as a warning.

He only looked over his shoulder and laughed derisively, but looking back forward, his path was now blocked by a menacing figure, all black and white, a skull design on her face, and a pair pf icy blue eyes glaring at him.

He stopped in his tracks, frozen with fear at the sudden appearance of the Silver Banshee. Behind him, Supergirl called out, "I warned you!" As if this were a game. The Banshee, also treating the situation like some kind of game, stepped closer, and to the side, allowing him to run past. If she couldn't hunt down the Black Banshee, she could hunt down this petty little thug at least.

He sprinted past her, not looking back, and out into the streets. Siobhan followed at a slower, more relaxed pace, keeping her icy eyes fixed on him as he retreated down the darkened road.

Just as he reached a point of relative safety, she blinked over to his side, meeting his frightened eyes with her own. Letting out a whimper, he turned and ran back the other way, until being stopped by her once more blinking into vision before him.

Her sudden appearance had him stumbling back and falling to the ground, crying in fear, as she stalked over. Leaning over, so their faces were almost touching, she held his gaze for a moment. "Don't let me catch you again," she warned, then smashed the side of his head, knocking him out.

Supergirl flew over, after having watched the display from the rooftop above, and smirked at the other girl, "well I wouldn't have done it with the theatrics, but at least the job's done."

"He deserved it. Fear is all these thugs know," Siobhan replied.

"Maybe so, but it is what it is. Come on, let's haul this guy and his buddy over to the station, and get the victim in to testify their guilt." The Irishwoman nodded.

A few minutes later, the two girls were once again prowling the rooftops, having just delivered the earlier perps and their victim to the closest police station.

As they moved, Kara looked over to her companion. "So, can you tell me anything about this Black Banshee?" She asked.

Siobhan stopped, and thought hard for a moment. "Well he's... He's evil." She realised that wasn't very helpful, "like very evil. He doesn't really have any regard for humans, because whatever part of him _used_ to be human is... Is dead." She explained.

"And how're you two related? There can't just be two 'Banshees' out there, right?"

"It's a... Long story, a legend if you will, how the Banshee came about," Siobhan warned.

"And how is there two?" The blonde asked.

"He's..." Only one other person alive knew this, and it wasn't even her decision to tell him. But surely Supergirl was trustworthy enough. But Siobhan didn't even know her name, her _real_ name... She came to a decision. "He's my father."

Kara's eyes widened, "wait, what?" She didn't see, angry... But Siobhan wasn't a very observant girl.

"Yeah. Or he _used_ to be. My father died, and the Black Banshee is what came back. He's come back out to find me, and I think, kill me."

"Well he's not going to." Siobhan looked at the blonde cautiously. "Thank you for telling me, I doubt it's something a lot of people know, and I promise that I won't let him... Y'know."

"Thanks, I... I appreciate it," Siobhan smiled, or she thought she did, but the Silver Banshee's face wasn't very emotional, to say the least. "But anyway, enough dramatic origins, let's get out and stop some bad guys." She urged.

The two resumed their patrol, heading further towards the city's dense centre, where they traded rooftops for high balconies, and fire escapes.

Eventually, the pair came across their second crime of night, a handful of guys in green jumpsuits and wooden masks robbing a small private bank, their truck waiting in the alley between their target, and the clothing store beside it.

"I kicked off the last one, you wanna do the honours?" Kara asked.

Siobhan nodded, and slid off the roof, dropping to the street below. Inside the building, four thugs were sprinting about, while a fifth waited beside their getaway truck. An easy bust.

She crept closer to the bank's front, which held floor to ceiling windows, preventing any cover besides that given by the concrete gaps between each glass pane. Siobhan, once again employing the use of theatrics to stir fear in her enemies, blinked past the windows, created a very brief, black, smoky effect, and a light scuttling to match it.

Inside, one thug noticed. "Hey, you guys hear that?" He asked, whispering.

"What? No, it's just the wind or something." Another told him.

"But I coulda sworn it-"

"It. Was. Nothing." The other interrupted, before holding a walkie talkie up to his head. "Hey Arturo, You good out there?" A broken response crackled back through the device. "Yeah. How much longer you think it'll take?" He asked.

"Troy's almost finished loading the bag, just keep the truck runn-"

"Shit, there it was again!" The first thug exclaimed, cutting him off.

"Will you _stop._ It's nothing."

"No, it's something, I swear! We better hurry!"

Siobhan chose now to act, having had enough fun toying with the distressed thugs. She shuffled over to the glass door, and prepared to open it. While her ability to 'blink' was incredibly useful, even it had it's limitations. She couldn't pass through a solid space. Fences were fine, because they were full of gaps, and passages, but windows and walls were solid, and effectively prevented her from using her abilities.

But a door, one which was still unlocked from a bunch to stupid thugs? It didn't stand a chance when she suddenly stepped out in front of it, and unleashed a death wail, blowing it off, before blinking inside to stand behind the startled thugs.

"Shit! Everyone move! Get the-" the thug issuing commands was cut off when Siobhan stepped over, and grabbed him by the mouth, bringing him down to smash the back of his head on her knee, knocking him out.

"Crap!" A second thug swore, and began firing his handgun at her. The other two ran, out of the building, while Siobhan blinked up to the thug firing, and tore the gun from his grip. Twirling it to hold it by the still smoking hot barrel, she whipped him in the forehead with it's grip, dropping both him and the weapon to the ground.

Next she moved to attack the third, simply sprinting over, and tackling him to the ground. She grabbed his shoulder, and spun him to lie face up, and star her in the face, which is when she noticed the mask he wore had a reflective glass lens over the eyes. She stared into them, and saw her own eyes, a pair of bright blue flames, burning into her, yet icy cold.

She blinked, and suddenly the thug wasn't beneath her, it was _him._ He grinned up at her, and chuckled deep. It echoed all around, reverberating off the building around, and back to her, filling her senses with the sound of his derisive laughter, his piercing glare, and a putrid smell of death.

She only came back to her senses when the thug she was straddling pushed her off an tried to runaway again, only to be tripped, and kicked in the head to knock him unconscious.

The sound of a truck's tires squealing made her look to the alley, where the last two thugs were attempting to escape, only for a figure in blue and red to drop down in front of them, and total their vehicle with her body.

Siobhan stalked over to deal with the two men. "Y'know, invulnerability doesn't make a head-on collision any less numbing, I'll tell you that. My neck is killing me now," Kara complained while Siobhan grabbed the driver of the truck, and drove his head through the windshield.

The Irishwoman moved to stop the final thug, but Supergirl had already sped over and taken him down without an issue. "So let's deliver these guys too I guess." The blonde shrugged.

The pair of heroes were later stalking the rooftops once more, only this time more quietly, and slowly, until Kara could no longer ignore the white elephant in the room.

"So what happened back there?" She asked, "when you tackled that one guy, it looked like you'd seen a ghost."

Siobhan sighed, "look it... Doesn't matter. I'm fine."

"Didn't look like it to me."

"I am, just trust me, it's nothing."

Realising she wouldn't get anything else from the other girl, Kara nodded, but she wasn't satisfied, not even a little.

They continued moving through the city, leaving the towering skyscrapers, and reentering the low-roofed outskirts of Metropolis. In this section of the city, closer to the bay, the area was dominated by warehouses and factories, with tight alleyways between them, and a lot of places to hide in,

The two decided that this would be their last stop on patrol, as it was getting closer to sunrise, and the point when most criminals went back into hiding, foolishly planning their next move the following night, when they would undoubtedly be caught, and brought in by the city's heroes.

The pair soon found themselves standing on the top of a shipping container, the container slowly, and barely rotating as it was held aloft by a crane, whose operator had left mid-job for whatever reason.

Below them, in an open area where they assumed a building once was judging by the concrete foundation, and burnt remnants of what was once a wall to one side, a number of undistinguishable thugs, all of them unarmed, milled around, loading crates onto a pair of vans. The act didn't seem necessarily illegal, but fortunately, it didn't take Kara's super senses to know there were drugs within each wooden container.

Overlooking the operation was a man standing about a foot or two taller then every other man, with massive muscles, and vicious snarl.

"There's too many guys, and _that_ one looks like he'll put up a fight," Supergirl whispered to the Banshee.

"They're all unarmed, so maybe if we both drop in together, some will see we're too much of a threat, and run," Siobhan suggested.

"Well, there's not much else we can do, the area's too well lit, and none of them are straying from the group," the blonde agreed.

"Alright, on three. One... Two..." Both girls stepped closer to the edge, and braced to drop.

"Three."

As one, they stepped off the container, and dropped to the ground in the middle of the group, startling everyone around them. At the sight of both the dreaded Silver Banshee, and indestructible Supergirl, most of the thugs turned, and ran off into the darkness, hoping to remain free for another day.

What few that remained bum-rushed the girls, charging into and counter-attack from Supergirl, while Siobhan just about ignored them, and began moving in towards the big guy, glaring him down.

Amidst the chaos of the blonde Supergirl flitting around the area trying to round up the smaller thugs, who were attempting to flee the scene, Siobhan and the brute met, the former sprinting towards the latter, only to suddenly blink up to his face, and deliver an unexpectedly strong punch to the surprised man.

He stumbled back a step, but then turned back to his much smaller enemy, and attempted to hit back, but his attack was slow, and sluggish, and easily evaded by the girl, who once again leapt up to be level with his head, and swung her leg out to kick him in the nose.

He let out a low growl, ready to attack again, when he noticed Supergirl fly near him, oblivious to the man, focussing entirely on the smaller grunt running around. Thinking quick, he grabbed her from the air, and swung her into the side of one of the vans they were near, then threw her away.

Siobhan, who had seen the entire display, was distracted by how he had run taken down her friend, giving the brute an opening for an attack that would actually land, sending her flying through the air shortly, and landing face-up on the concrete a few metres away, her head snapping back and smacking the pavement with a sharp pain.

She grunted, and her hands moved up to grab the back of her head. Fortunately, that would heal relatively quickly. But that was when she noticed how the brute was gone, or at least, 'taken care of' if the large foot twitching slightly in the darkness was any indication. And in his stead, stood a tall dark man, in a long trench coat that seemed to dissipate into black smoke, his skin white, and his eyes a blazing blue. He wore a sick grin, and the stench of death permeated the air.

He didn't speak, only moved closer, but she was unable to move, frozen with fear, the same fear she denied when they first spoke in Gotham. He could sense it, she knew he could.

He stalked closer, maintaining a slow, lazy pace, the nature of his approach serving to amplify the eerie feel of the area, and the growing panic within Siobhan.

Now he stood over her, and his grinning parted, only instead of releasing a wail, like she expected him to, he inhaled, and she felt the darkness that had enveloped her Banshee form begin to give way, being stolen by him, only the Banshee wasn't the only thing he wanted to steal. She could feel something far greater begin to be sucked from her body.

Deep down, she could feel herself growing colder than anything possible, that cold growing until it reached it's peak, and darkness began to set in on the outer edges of her vision, the last thing she saw being a bright light emerge from her mouth, and disappear into his own, literally the life being sucked from her body, before everything went black.

 **Metropolis  
** **June 4, 04:30 EST**

The black suddenly gave way to light, albeit a very dim light, and Siobhan instinctually raised a hand to rub her face. The sight of black where there would usually be a pale pinkish colour made her realise that the dim light was moonlight, and she was currently in the middle of a fight, at least she hadn't accidentally dropped her Banshee form.

She sat up in a panic, eager to resume the fight, but instead found Supergirl had just finished subduing the brute, wrapping him in steel girders, while the rest of the thug must have been rounded up and sealed within a shipping container, based on the metallic thumping, and cries for help coming from within.

The blonde turned from her handiwork, and rushed over to the still sitting Siobhan, kneeling beside her.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked. This close, Siobhan noted something familiar about the girl's own brilliant blue eyes, but ignored it for now.

"Uh, yeah. Just a little bump, should be fine, I heal fast." The blonde nodded, but the worried look on her face didn't leave. "So, I think that's enough patrollin' for tonight, hm?" The Irishwoman suggested, receiving a chuckle in response.

But Siobhan couldn't deny the chills that still ran through her spine from whatever it was she had seen or experienced just moments ago.

* * *

 **A/N so, a double update due to the incredibly long wait, which I will shamelessly attribute to the difficulty of finding relevant music for these chapters. Sorry for the wait regardless.**


	20. Secret

**Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 _"_ _Got a secret  
_ _Can you keep it?  
_ _Swear this one you'll save  
_ _Better lock it in your pocket  
_ _Taking this one to the grave  
_ _If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said  
_ _'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dea_ _d"  
_ _-Secret_ by _The Pierces_

 **Metropolis  
** **June 8, 00:00 EST**

She sat up, startled, awoken by her nightmares yet again. Her sleep schedule was well and truly ruined by this point, due to the constant visions of the Black Banshee, of her own death, or corruption, and even more recently, her friends, Supergirl and Linda.

The former friend hadn't given up on trying to patrol with Siobhan, which touched her, but she didn't know what she was up against. Black Banshee had defied death itself, and if anything could hurt her, hell, even kill her, it would be him. Thus, she had been avoiding the blonde over the past few nights.

Her other friend, on the other hand, was getting frighteningly nosey. Siobhan's issues with sleep had been catching up with her during the day, and while it was nice to spend more time with the brunette, their conversations always gravitated to her blatantly sleep deprivation, and that was a topic the Irishwoman wanted to avoid. She had considered telling her, but thought better of it. Linda didn't _get_ her life, and she likely wouldn't stick around if she knew what Siobhan _really_ was. Beyond that, if Black Banshee ever found Linda, it would be a disaster, and Siobhan couldn't let that happen, so to keep her in the dark was the only option... For now at least.

But, despite all her issues, she had found something to keep her occupied, and a way to use the late nights, rather than waste them. She had been working hard on the search for a job and new, bigger apartment, and with her all her newfound 'spare time', that search was coming along nicely. She was in contact with the owner of an apartment complex closer to the centre of town, and had even been spoken to by a talent agent about her music, which was promising.

She sat at her couch, hoping to look into both a little more, when her phone vibrated. It was Linda. She had been shocked to find out the girl didn't have a phone, so bought her one, despite plenty of arguing. The vibration came from a message from said girl, asking to hang out that night.

Siobhan thought about it for a second, but decided Supergirl could handle the city for _one_ night, and allow the Irishwoman to hang out with her best friend.

 **The Watchtower  
** **June 8, 00:05 EST**

Kara had been sitting around in the Watchtower's monitor room, on monitor duty, when the boredom became too much. It was her first late night monitor duty shift, which was all relative because she was in space, but it was technically the time she'd usually be asleep in Metropolis.

So she was on duty, fiddling with the new phone Siobhan had bought her, when she had an idea. She knew enough about the phone out send out a message, asking if they could hand out that night. She was worried about her friend, and decided a night out could help her, especially because she had been particularly focussed on helping the Banshee, and felt like a bit of a bad friend. Sometimes she considered telling Siobhan about Supergirl, but decided not to. She was just a human, and she didn't want to endanger the girl with that knowledge.

A few minutes later, to account for Earth to space messaging, the logistics of which she didn't want to think about at this hour, Siobhan's reply came through. A simple sure, asking when and where. She sent another message, suggesting to meet in the park, at eight. Another agreement came through, and her plans were set. Silver Banshee could handle watching the city for _one_ night.

 **Metropolis  
** **June 8, 20:00 EST**

Linda hadn't arrived yet, and Siobhan was pacing, wondering if this really was a good idea. There was no reason to doubt it, as in there was literally nothing that could go wrong, she supposed, barring the possibility of Black Banshee showing up, but Supergirl was around to sort it out... She hoped.

A voice cut through her doubting thoughts.

"Siobhan! You're already here," Linda smiled, walking up.

"Yeah. I had nothin' else to do, so..." She shrugged.

"Alright, well let's go, I have the whole night planned out." The brunette ushered Siobhan away, towards their first destination of the night.

A short walk brought them to the front of a pub, surprising Siobhan with both it's existence, and Linda's knowledge of the place. The brunette must have known this, so she explained.

"I was looking at places to eat, and I saw good reviews, so I thought, why not?" She shrugged.

The pair entered, and moved to an empty booth, not that the place was particularly full. "So, did ye see what kind of food they have here?" Siobhan asked. Linda's eyes widened, and she looked down slightly. "I'm gonna say no..."

"That would've been a good idea... Hang on," she stood up, and started towards the bar at the back of the pub, before stopping, and spinning around, "wait, drink?" She asked.

Siobhan sighed slightly and nodded, requesting a simple water, which Linda frowned slightly at, but moved to the bar nonetheless. She soon came back with a couple of glasses full of water, and sat back down, placing one in front of her.

"The man at the bar, he sounded English, or Australian, kind of just shrugged and said the 'parmi' was good... So I got two of that," she told the Irishwoman.

"Chicken Parmigiana," Siobhan explained, and Linda nodded, suddenly understanding.

"Slang is... Hard," she smiled weakly, eliciting a genuine laugh from Siobhan, making her smile further, "but hey, the night's _already_ working."

"So, do I get any idea of what else is on tonight?" Siobhan asked.

"Nope. It's all a surprise, for your enjoyment, so enjoy, I order you to."

Siobhan chuckled, and sat back, waiting for the food to arrive. The two girls continued to talk about nothing in particular, until their food arrived, which they ate slowly while continuing to speak, not once approaching the subject of what was wrong with Siobhan. It was nice, just getting to spend time with her best friend, and not having to worry about... Well anything.

They finished their meals, and left the pub to move on to Linda's second part of the night, which turned out to be a large arcade that made up part of an entertainment complex, just below a casino, and above a shopping mall.

Linda led Siobhan into the arcade, but not to any games in particular, realising too late that she had no clue what to do there.

"So, where should we begin?" She asked, hoping the Irishwoman would take the lead.

"I thought it's all a surprise," she smirked, raising one eyebrow. Linda scowled, and gave her a flat glare, so Siobhan laughed, and led the brunette to a row of Skee ball machines. "What is _this?"_ Linda asked."

"Ye don't know _Skee ball!?"_ The other woman asked incredulously.

Linda shrugged, "uh, not really familiar with _any_ of these, really."

Siobhan gasped, and recoiled, purposefully exaggerating her shock. "Well then, I guess we got a _long_ night ahead of us."

As it turned out, Linda was _very_ good at Skee ball... In fact, she was really good at every game, showing an unexpected amount of speed and strength. Even in one game, where the aim was to just hold onto a pair of rods that gradually shocked you more and more, Linda seemed inhuman in her ability to withstand the pain.

"Jaysus, that was _incredible!"_ Siobhan gushed as they exited, both of their bags now loaded with so many arcade tickets that they didn't know what to do with them.

"And really fun, we should do t again some time," Linda smiled. On the inside, she realised that she _may_ have gone overboard with using her powers, but she was having too much fun to care.

"So where next?" Siobhan asked.

"You'll see when we get there. C'mon," the brunette urged, leading the way.

They walked several blocks until Linda turned them both down through a dimly lit alley, unperturbed at the eerie setting. "Uh, Linda? Should we be moving down here?" Siobhan asked.

"It'll be fine, trust me," the brunette reassured her, making it through to the other end unscathed. Just on the other side of the road from the, a club was pumping out loud music, and the cheers of it's drunk patrons. Linda smiled, and started moving towards it, when something finally went wrong.

From far down the road, a low screech grew louder, and higher, until a shockwave blasted through the area, throwing back the two girls, the line to the club, and blowing out every piece of glass in the street.

At the end of the road, where the screech came from, and tall figure lurked, slowly moving closer, a wide grin across his face. Judging from the look on Linda's face, Siobhan could tell that this time, it really _was_ the Black Banshee.

As he stalked closer, that sadistic grin lever leaving his cold white face, the civilians in the area ran, fleeing from him, screaming in fear. Only he, Siobhan, and Linda remained.

Siobhan took one look at the brunette, and then back at the man before them. She sighed and realised there was only one way to save her best friend.

The shadows began to creep up on her, and curl around her legs. Darkness ate her body, and became one with her, her eyes turning into a pair of bright blue lights. Seconds later, Siobhan Smythe had become the Silver Banshee, revealing her secret identity to her best friend.

She spared a quick look at the brunette who stared at her in was she assumed was horror. Channeling the fear anger she felt over being forced to do this to Linda, she blinked over to Black Banshee, intending to hit him, or kick him, or something, but he was unfortunately quicker than her, and predicted the move.

The moment she reappeared in front of him, a fist collided with her gut, the strength behind the blow enough to throw her back through the window of a nearby shop. Moving quickly, she emerged from the store, shaking shattered glass off her, and blinked up to him again, only to be grabbed by the throat, and tossed aside carelessly.

She scrambled back to her feet, and immediately moved in for a third attempt. This time, he grabbed her by the arm, as she moved to punch him in the temple, and flipped her over onto her back, staring up at him. He then placed his black boot on her chest, pinning her to the ground under his weight, and strength, but also hurting her, from the immense pressure being applied.

His foot pushed down harder, and tipped so he was putting pressure on her neck with his toes. She struggled to find a breath, and he grinned down at her, ready to give one last push, and kill her.

But, as his leg muscles tensed, a blonde blur blasted into him, and tackled him off Siobhan. She sat up and coughed, gathering her bearings, and looked over to Linda, but she was gone, and only a pile of brown hair, a bag, and some discarded glasses remained.

The Irishwoman looked to the other side then, and saw her father pinned to the ground, being pummelled by a blonde woman in Linda's clothing. Her fists were flying faster and stronger than a human's would, but the Black Banshee possessed the inhuman abilities of the cursed undead.

He tucked his hands under her, pushed her away so she skidded to a stop beside Siobhan. The two girls looked at each other, and Siobhan realised something. It was Supergirl. No doubt, her blonde hair and blue eyes were unmistakable, but on the inside she realised that those blue eyes were also identical to Linda's.

Her best friend was Supergirl.

It was in the moment of distraction that Black Banshee struck again, unleashing his own death wail to remove the blonde from the fight, and blinking over to Siobhan, grabbing her by the neck, and lifting her up into the air, squeezing the life from her.

Try as she might, Siobhan couldn't help but feel the icy feeling of fear once again creep through her, proving how much power this man still had over her. It mist have shown on her face, because his grin widened. "I said you were afraid," he mocked. "And-" his sentence was cut off by Supergirl once again coming to Siobhan's aid, tackling the man, who dropped the Irishwoman in the process.

Kara gripped her enemy around the waist, and took off, moving far above the ground, before arcing back on herself, and shooting back down toward the pavement, hoping to drive him through it. But just as they neared, he blinked out of existence, from her arms, and reappeared standing beside the recovering Siobhan.

Glaring down at her, but still grinning, he made no move to attack again. "It would seem I made a mistake in appearing while you had company. Maybe _next_ we can have a more _private_ 'daddy-daughter day'." He then blinked away, leaving the girls alone in the dark street.

The girls stood back up, and slowly approached each-other.

They then simply stood there, staring at one another, silent, until Siobhan broke first, and blinked to a nearby rooftop. The blonde followed close behind, flying up after her, and landing on the roof behind the Irishwoman, who still stood silently, but now with her back to Kara.

"Uh, Siobhan?" She gently called. The Irishwoman tensed, but didn't turn around. "Siobhan... Are we good?"

Siobhan mumbled something, which Kara couldn't pick up on. She supposed it had something to do with the fact that Siobhan was the Silver Banshee. "I'm sorry? I didn't hear that... Siobhan?"

The Irishwoman whirled around on her, fixing her blazing glare on the blonde, "do _not_ call me that!" She roared, "ye don't get to speak to me."

Kara, shocked at the outburst, frowned. "What? Why!?"

"I don't know _Linda_ , maybe ye should think about it."

"Is this because I'm Supergirl, and didn't tell you?" Siobhan nodded. "You're mad because I didn't reveal my _secret_ identity? That's ridiculous!, besides, it's not like _you've_ been a model of honesty, _Silver Banshee."_

"Well I had more reason to withhold the truth than you."

"What do you mean!? I'm your best friend, I deserve to know, especially because of all the crap you've been dealing with recently!"

"It _because_ of all that crap that I never told ye! I had no idea _Linda Lang_ was anythin' more than a normal girl, and even _Supergirl_ can't help me with _that!"_ She pointed back towards the area they'd come from, where Black Banshee had attacked.

"I'm an indestructible alien-"

"And _he_ defied death itself. But I see nothin' like him threatenin' _yer_ life!"

"So there has to be some demon, ignoring the fact that he's your _father,_ threatening my life to have a reason to withhold my identity? being a member of the Justice League isn't a big enough deal to withhold it?"

Siobhan shook her head, and blinked away from the blonde. She didn't understand, which is exactly what Kara thought of the other girl, too.

* * *

 **A/N Uh oh, they're fighting...**


	21. Sunny

**A/N I'm** _ **so**_ **sorry for the huge delay, but life stuff happened, university happened, and such. I'm also sorry that it's only a short chapter too, but I'm hoping to get another chapter up very soon to make up for it.**

 **Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **Aeaea  
** **January 4, 18:00 CET**

"Well-" a small beep that emitted from Kara's belt drew her attention away, and she stepped back, placing a hand to her ear, "Supergirl here... What?... Is nobody else..." She sighed, and looked back at the team for a moment. "Fine, I'll be right there."

She stepped back over to them, "I need to go. There's an alert, and the rest of the League isn't immediately available. Can you complete this mission without me?"

"Why the need to ask? Don't you trust us?" Connor grumbled from where he was still sitting on a tree stump.

"you _know_ I trust you Kon, but with Wonder Girl here, circumstances are different. We have a responsibility, to her _and_ Wonder Woman."

"Kara, we will be fine, as will Wonder Girl," Aqualad assured her.

She stood silently for a moment, "alright then, I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can." Those were her parting words, as she flew off into the sky moments later, speeding back towards the U.S.

 _"This had better be good,"_ she grumbled in her mind.

 **Metropolis  
** **January 4, 12:10 EST**

As it turns out, the call _was_ good. One of the many ways Batman and the League protected the secret identities of it's members and allies was by constantly monitoring every aspect of their secret life.

For Kara, this meant her and Linda's apartment had been wired up to security on par with the Batcave, and that was _before_ Red Tornado had inadvertently leaked the location to T. .

So when there was an alert that not one, but _three_ unidentifiable, and inorganic trespassers were ransacking the apartment, Kara was notified. Fortunately, none had made a move on Lana Lang, who was already being secured.

The blonde made it to the apartment building not long after taking off from Aeaea, and landed on the roof. Normally she'd take care to avoid being seen by normal bystanders when landing on this roof, but regardless, she quickly moved to enter through the doorway up there, and sped through the tight hallways to her own apartment.

On the outside, the room looked just as it should, but a quick X-ray scan showed the apartment's inside had been ransacked, and a lithe android with long blades for forearms, and legs resembling a cheetah's more than a humans stood at the other end pf the living room. Two more were in Kara's and Lana's rooms respectively, and all three pulsed with a bright red energy in their cores, giving off a radiation she could identify through the door. Red sun energy.

Whoever made and sent these androids here had clearly done their homework. Kara supposed she'd have to speak with Batman about how they found her home, as they were _clearly_ built to combat Kryptonians.

With a deep breath, the blonde gripped her doorknob tight, though not enough to actually break or bend it, and sped inside, taking the first android by surprise.

She flew into the apartment in a flash, closing the door behind her as she moved, and sped over to the still mostly unaware android. She stopped just as she found herself behind it, and thrust her arm forwards.

Her hand pierced the android's back, exiting through it's chest, wiring and machinery clutched in her fist. The android gave a weak buzz, and shuddered, before going limp, and falling to the ground in a heap once Kara pried her arm from the newly created chest cavity.

The sound of it's weak death cry must have attracted the attention of it's two comrades, as the moment Kara turned, two identical androids rushed out from where they had been hiding, and leapt towards her, sword arms extended.

The first she managed to avoid, twisting to the side, and watching as it harmlessly swung through the air in front of her. However as she ducked to avoid the second, the blonde was unable to dodge the whole attack, feeling the blade slice through her suit, and leave a long, but relatively unimportant slice in her upper arm.

Hissing at the sting, Kara rolled across the room, and jumped up to her feet, facing down the two robotic assailants. Silently, they lunged at her once more, one android moving slickly over the coffee table as if it weren't there, and the second hugging the wall, rather it was literally running along the vertical surface, it's claws cutting through the plaster.

In one swift motion, both androids launched themselves at her again, once more swinging their bladed arms towards her. If she wanted to come out of this fight unscathed, she'd have to find a way to separate them, so she could focus on one android without worrying about the other.

Keeping this in mind, Kara dropped to the ground, and rolled back to the other side of the apartment, right next to the window, and turned back around as the androids landed, their blades slicing up the carpet.

"Come on, show me what you got," she taunted, still crouching slightly, ready to move at any second.

In time yet again, the androids leapt at her, this time one going for a high attack, and the other a low, forcing the blonde to jump between them in an awkward way, resulting in her cape sustaining a long slice from the lower android.

Although rather than move back to the other side of the apartment, she stopped her movement short, and kicked her feet in the chest of the higher attacker, pushing him through the window with a loud smash, and down to the alleyway below.

However, with this attack came a much smaller area between herself and the remaining assailant, who easily swung at her again, this time opening a deeper cut along her leg, which she hissed at, trying to move away from the android, but finding that putting weight on the limb seemed to aggravate the pain.

Now, she stood face to face with a single android, it's thin black frame far more menacing in the moonlight pouring through the open window. Without missing a beat, it lunged at her again, and rather than try to avoid it's attack, Kara readied herself to intercept it, her arms extended.

Once it got close enough to attack, the blonde moved to grab it's arms, just below the blades, and while she was able to catch one, the other slipped past her attempt, it blade slicing through her upper arm, causing her to cry out, but quickly correct her grip, and take hold of it again.

She could feel the red sun energy pouring off the android, weakening her, and pushed herself to end the fight quickly, by pushing against the arms, and pushing the metallic assassin back.

She was trying to bend it in such a way that enough stress would be out on the metal, allowing one swift stomp to snap it's spine in half. But these android were quite clearly built with the sole purpose of combatting her, and it'd flexibility, and speed easily made up for it's inability to withstand her strength.

Once she bent the android back enough, she moved to throw her foot down into it, only to take a kick to her own face, as it threw it's legs up, and turned the position into a flip. Now the android was facing down, while she was bent of it's head. Outside, she could hear the other android already climbing up the side of the building to reach the apartment once more.

In this moment of distraction, the android attack again, throwing it's head into her gut, winding her, and forcing her to release the grip she had on it's arms.

With it's primary weapons once again free, the assassin lifted them up to bring them down, but Kara quickly ducked to the side, leaving both blades to skewer her cape, leaving a pair of long gashes through it, and nothing else.

At the thought of the long garment draped over her shoulders, Kara had an idea.

She unclasped the cape, and took hold of it in one hand, then faced the android again, goading it to attack once more, which it did silently, thrusting a blade at her, which she deftly dodged, allowing it to sink into her cape, and then the thick form of the couch she had been standing in front of.

With the cape and the android now pinned in place, she began speeding around it, tearing the cape into a thinner, longer strip of material when necessary, wrapping her attacker in bright red. By the time she finished, it was weakly swinging at her with it's remaining arm, all limbs effectively tied to it's body.

But the sound of slowly tearing cloth brought her back to reality, as did the clanging of the metal coming from the other assassin just beginning to reach the window. So thinking quick, Kara took a hold of the still free arm of the trapped android, and bent it around it's own body, then thrust the sword into itms own chest, killing it finally.

Next, she turned to face down the last android, but found nothing in her immediate vision. Suddenly, an excruciating pain erupted in her abdomen, and she looked down to find a long blade, coursing with red energy had pierced her, from back to front, just below and to the right of her chest.

Just when she thought the pain couldn't get any worse, from her back there were several more stabbing pains, but it was different. In the reflection of the nearby mirror, she saw long, thin, razor sharp spines of some crystalline substance burst from her back, and impale the android behind her all over it's body, with one last, thicker and larger spine blasting through the centre of it's chest.

The burning pain soon gave way to a cold numbness, and she dropped to her knees, clutching the profusely bleeding wound tight, once the sword was pulled back from her body, it's wielder likely dead.

As darkness surrounded her vision, the last thing she heard was the muffled, panicked calls of what sounded like Wonder Woman.

 **The Watchtower  
** **January 5, 09:30 EST**

Light suddenly entered her eyes through tightly shit lids. Kara opened her eye, slowly to allow herself to adjust to the light, and found herself staring up at a smooth white ceiling, resembling that of the Watchtower infirmary.

Beneath her, she felt softness, and over her warmth, but when she shifted to sit up, pain shot through her from her abdomen. She gingerly lifted the cover, and saw the area was heavily bandaged.

Then she remembered the drones.

"So that's what getting stabbed feels like," she mumbled.

"Yes, and you're lucky to be alive," a voice suddenly replied, making her jump. Standing beside her bed, somehow hidden up until that moment, was Kal, a worried frown etched deep across his face.

"I take it J'onn sent someone in to back me up as soon as they were available?" The blonde asked him.

"Yes. Diana found you in the apartment, surrounded by destroyed androids and... Well, she said there were... Spines? Coming out of your back?"

"It's true," a third voice confirmed, as Wonder Woman and Batman entered the infirmary. The Dark Knight held a hunk of crystal, and presented it to the girl. "This is the substance Diana found sprouting from your body.

Kara inspected it quickly, but recognised it with ease "it's sunstone, it was a common construction material on Krypton. It's also what the Fortress of Solitude is made up of," she explained.

"And how did it... Come _out_ of you?" Asked Kal.

"Well, sunstone is a mineral with a self-replicating capability. In the right conditions, it can literally regenerate itself to grow from a particle, to a skyscraper."

"Then the sunstone must have been mapped to your DNA, and responded to the near-death situation, producing the spines we found," Batman suggested.

"Like a defence mechanism?" Kara asked.

"Exactly. The question is _how_ it was mapped to your DNA."

"Well... I have an idea. A long time ago, when I was just a little girl, my parents often took me on trips to various places on the planet. Forests, caves, lakes, they liked to show me the natural beauty of Krypton. Unfortunately, when I was about five, they took me on a trip to an old sunstone cave for a picnic of sorts.

"Being a child, I decided to go exploring, I wanted to see the sunstone up close in it's raw form, but I tripped, and landed on a small stalagmite. It impaled me through the leg, leaving a small scar, but I was relatively fine, afterwards." Kara explained. "But, that doesn't explain the timing, I've been harmed before, even impaled in the arm, and that childhood event certainly wasn't life-threatening."

"Maybe not anymore, but a child tends to perceive events as far worse than they actually are," Diana suggested.

"Regardless, this is a priority security breach, and needs to be dealt with accordingly." Batman changed subjects. "Lana Lang had been notified of the incident, and the League is dealing with moving you both to a new, more secure apartment elsewhere in the city."

"How did they find me?" The blonde asked.

"We think it may have something to do with when Red Tornado inadvertently leaked the location to T. O. Morrow," Wonder Woman told her.

"The androids you encountered were clearly built by Professor Ivo, but a scan through their memory revealed similar software to that used by Morrow in his own androids, such as Red Tornado." Batman explained. Kara decided not to mention how she had encountered similar androids before.

"But, you should get some rest, we can continue this another time. I think you've earned a little time off," Kal smiled kindly, exiting with the other two, and leaving Kara alone with her thoughts.


	22. We Used to be Friends

**Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

 _"_ _A long time ago, we used to be friends  
_ _But I haven't thought of you lately at all  
_ _If ever again, a greeting I send to you,  
_ _Short and sweet to the soul is all I intend._ _"  
_ _-We used to be friends_ by _The Dandy Warhols_

* * *

 **Metropolis  
** **June 11, 11:00 EST**

"Thanks," Siobhan smiled weakly, accepting her coffee from the barista. A lot of her smiles felt weak, or forced lately, which she supposed had to do with 'daddy dearest' _still_ haunting her goddamn nightmares.

That or the fact that her best friend turned out to be an all-powerful alien, and never mentioned it. She hadn't spoken to Lin- _Supergirl,_ for a while, though that wasn't for lack of trying on the other girl's part.

After that night, Siobhan had received an apology voicemail from the girl, which was followed by another, and some more, until she was contacting the Irishwoman in any way she could, to no avail.

And speaking of the devil, as Siobhan turned to leave the café, a certain _fake-_ brunette _fake-_ glasses wearing girl entered, a wide smile breaking out across her face, which then dropped to a weaker one.

She began to step closer to the Irishwoman, but Siobhan ignored her, pointedly taking the longer route around the chairs and tables inside to avoid her path. But just as she reached the door, a hand on her arm stopped her, causing Siobhan to sigh, but not look _her_ way.

 _"What?"_ She growled.

"Please, can we talk?"

"No," she jerked her arm out of the _actually-_ blonde's grip, and continued on her way, leaving the shop in a worse mood than when she entered.

Meanwhile, Kara watched on helplessly. Now that she had time to think about it, she could forgive Siobhan for withholding the truth, and her less than desirable reaction to her own secret. After all, there _was_ a psychotic man with identical powers to hers trying to kill her. Not to mention he was her _father,_ which must have been what was troubling her recently.

Of course, that didn't _entirely_ excuse her, and she was still avoiding Kara, which meant they hadn't exactly had time to talk things out. The best she could hope for is that the stubborn Irishwoman would come around. That or fate would take care of things.

 **Metropolis  
** **June 11, 23:00 EST**

What kind of pub closed this late at night, anyway? Siobhan grumbled bitterly, lugging her guitar through the dark Metropolis streets, having been at a gig just minutes before, until the pub's owner asked everyone to leave, and shut down for the night.

It basically meant she was bored, sober, and had to spend just those few more hours at home, where she wasn't too inclined to stay for the night.

The steady sound of footsteps following her reminded the girl of the _other_ reason she wasn't too happy. While she was playing, she had noticed a certain former best friend of hers was in the crown too.

Naturally, after her set, the girl walked up to Siobhan, and tried to start a conversation, and when that failed, she began to follow the Irishwoman, mostly silent, although every now and then she would pipe up again, attempting to speak.

As the pair neared her apartment, Siobhan grew increasingly irritated by her new shadow, and stopped as they reached the building's front doors. She rounded on Supergirl, sending her a white hot glare, and finally broke her silence.

"Leave. Me. Alone. Stop following me home, stop trying to speak to me, stop _contacting_ me. Just stop!" She demanded.

"Why?" Kara asked weakly.

"Ye know _damn_ well." Maybe it was irrational, and maybe she _should_ give her former best friend a second chance, but something inside of herself wouldn't let her.

"Stop being immature and _listen_ for a change. I know I lied, but you need to understand, I did it to protect you," Kara reasoned. "I deal with killer androids and warring nations _daily._ I didn't want to bring my best friend into it, because I didn't know you could handle yourself!"

"Fine, maybe ye lied to 'protect'me. But ye blamed me for doin' the same. Ye saw my father, ye know what he is. I didn't want my best friend thinking I was like him."

"I know I did, and I'm sorry. I was a hypocrite."

"But ye still did it, and ye still lied. Apology or not, ye lied to my _face,_ and got angry when I did the same."

"Exactly, you did to," Kara cried helplessly, losing out to Siobhan's stubbornness. "But I forgive you, and all I want is for you to give me a second chance."

Siobhan glared at her a little longer, and turned her back on the other girl. She stalked into the building, letting her stubborn ego win, leaving her former best friend alone outside.

Later that night, both girls individually decided to go out on patrol, each hoping the other would stay at home that night. While Supergirl soared through the city, weaving around tall skyscrapers, Silver Banshee stuck to the rooftops, leaping over alleys and streets alike.

At some point, both women picked up the sound of panicked screams, and gunfire. Kara by way of her Kryptonian physiology, and Siobhan with her Banshee-enhanced abilities. So being the heroes they were, they followed. Leaping, flying or blinking in the direction the sounds had come from.

Along the way, the sounds ended, and police sirens filled the silence. But even when straining their hearing, neither girl picked up panic or gunfire.

Silver Banshee made it to the scene first, and rather than relegate herself to dealing with the police down on the street below, she used up the last of her energy to blink across the street, and onto the roof of the casino the attack had gone down inside of. Of course, this meant she was unable to blink for the next twenty minutes or so.

Nonetheless, she slipped through a shattered skylight, and into the casino. Inside, she entered the main atrium, where the open entryway reached all the way up to the roof, and only a balcony the surrounded the entire room cut through the open space.

Looking down past the balcony, to the foyer, Siobhan saw a handful of bodies, both security and civilian, and pools or splashes of blood. Both of the bodies were riddled with bullet holes, but some looked like they had been beaten to death... Or worse.

She dropped to the second floor balcony, and then the ground floor, where the red and blue lights shined through the shattered windows. Opposite the front doors, was a long bench separated by bullet-proof glass, where people could hand over their coats, or exchange their money.

The door that opened to the alcove behind the glass had been blown off, and more bodies lay within.

To her right were two bathroom doors, and a hallway that lead to a restaurant, and left was a wide doorway that opened into the actual casino. She entered into a room even larger than the entrance foyer, littered with bullet casings, smashed machines, and countless bodies.

The normally blue carpet was stained with deep blotches of red all around, but the biggest surprise came when she stumbled across the perpetrators of the crime. Or what was left of them.

Outside, Supergirl had already arrived at the scene, and immediately went about speaking to the police about what was going on.

"It's the Royal Flush Gang," she was informed. "They went in and started shooting up the place, but it's been quiet for a while, silent even." Kara told them to stay out just in case, while she went in. The officers were more than willing to comply.

So she crept inside, noting the bodies and blood that coated the floor, and noticed the familiar form that was creeping around the casino floor.

She walked up to Siobhan, and waited as she inspected two bodies in particular.

"Banshee," she said.

The Irishwoman turned on her quickly, and glared foully. "Get out, I can handle this," she ordered.

"No," Kara denied. "Kara and Siobhan aren't on the best of terms, but we can still _work_ together," she reasoned. "I'm not leaving, this is my city."

Banshee frowned, or at least she _seemed_ to. It was hard to tell from the way her face looked. But she nodded anyway, and went back to investigating.

"These are two of the suspects. King and Queen," she explained. And sure enough, there were two very oddly dressed bodies surrounded by discarded bags of money.

They both had white skin, and wore robes and crowns, but there wasn't much blood. As a matter of fact, the death circumstances were frighteningly familiar. They were in identical positions as a certain three former Gothamites.

Blood trickled out of their ears, and their faces were frozen in terror. Kara moved away, and began searching for the other members. There wasn't any sign of Jack, but she found the woman known as Ten slumped over against a nearby wall.

Blood trickled from her ears too, but upon inspection, Kara could detect a faint pulse. She was alive, barely, but in a stable condition.

Siobhan had also gone searching for the other gang members and too found no sign of Jack. What she did find, was a large metal form, completely white except for the black spade symbol on it's chest, and the black 'A' on it's forehead.

In reaction to bumping into it, a huge metal fist shot out and blasted her away, shuffling after.

Kara rushed over at the sound, just in time to witness the Ace Android emerge entirely. "Oh, hello again," she frowned.

"I-I-I-I-I'm go-o-o-bvvvvt bzzzz-ill bvvvvzzzzzz-ou,." It stuttered.

Siobhan got back up to her feet, and glared at the familiar android. "Well, looks like _someone_ founf our old friend," she growled.

"And upgraded him," Kara noted, referring to it's massively improved, and larger body.

"Or dumbed him down," Siobhan suggested, remembering that the last time they'd encountered the android, it had been a fairly intelligent, eloquent thing, not a stuttering, clunky mess.

Ace interrupted the back and forth with a lunge, which both girls avoided with a sidestep, and returned with synchronised kicks to it's lower back.

"How about I take middle-front, you go upper-back?" Kara suggested.

"Give me a minute," Siobhan countered, avoiding Ace's next attack, an axe-handle that broke a hole in the ground, with a backflip off it's head, while Kara stepped to the side again.

"For what?" Kara asked, blocking a punch, and upper-cutting Ace.

"I've been busy tonight, I need time to recharge," Siobhan reasoned, running up to Ace, and kicking it in the side of the head.

"Recharge _what?"_ Kara asked again. She grabbed a second fist that had been sent towards her face, and tugged the Android towards her, forcing it to stumble into her.

"Ye know how I can teleport?" Siobhan asked, jumping onto Ace's head, and drilling it into the floor with a stomp.

"You call it blinking, right?" Kara asked. She grabbed Ace by one leg, and started spinning it around, the forces at work lifting it off the ground like.

"Yeah, that-" Siobhan dropped down, and threw one leg into the air, so Ace's head would smash into it with each pass. "-Well I only got a limited amount, and I used 'em up tonight, so I need to get some energy back," she explained.

"Really? Seems like a bit of a flaw," Kara noted, letting go of Ace so it would fly into a bank of video poker machines.

"Well, we can't _all_ be perfect," Siobhan taunted, _actually_ showing a bit of humour in her tone, as she waited for Ace to recover.

"Well, maybe you _don't_ need to blink," Kara suggested. As she did, Ace came charging at them once more. It tackled Kara away, but was unable to topple her, and was left pushing against an immovable girl, while Siobhan looked on.

"What makes ye say that?" She asked. Kara gave her a flat look, and gestured to the android that currently had it's back to her, giving them the window they needed to attack.

"Oh." She shrugged, and sprinted at it, while Kara braced for her part of the move. While Siobhan leapt up onto Ace's head with a flip, grabbing hold of it, Kara wrapped her arms around it's waist, and when she noticed it's legs leave the ground, she blasted forward, while Siobhan held onto Ace's head tight.

The combined strength of both, Siobhan's being just enough to complete the manoeuvre without losing her grip, had Ace's head come tearing off it's body with a shower of sparks.

Kara dropped to the ground with a loud, metallic thunk, and Siobhan tossed the severed head into the air a few times. And the she remembered she was _mad_ at the blonde, and tossed the head away, scowling.

Kara noticed this, and sighed. "I'll get Ten some medical attention and tell the cops what happened, you try to find Jack," she decided, already hoisting the only living member of the gang into her arms, and walking out of the casino.

Siobhan began to clear the rooms one by one, first being the rest of the casino, and the foyer again, then the restaurant, and finally the bathrooms. The men's room was clear, but the women's... That was a _real_ mess.

Siobhan found Jack blood trickling from his ears, and his gut torn open, and blood coating almost the entire floor.

But written on the mirror, with Jack's blood, was a message.

 _'Embrace it, free it Little Banshee'_

It was a message from the Black Banshee, to her. He had done all of this, just to send a message to her. But it wasn't what he had done that had her scared. It was the fact that she _was_ scared.

* * *

 **A/N It's short, it's very late, it's not my favourite, but hopefully the next few will be better.**


	23. The Reason

**Disclaimer; Nope, still don't own 'em. Both Young Justice and any character seen within this work of fiction belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

 _"_ _I'm not a perfect person  
_ _There's many things I wish I didn't do  
_ _But I continue learning  
_ _I never meant to do those things to you  
_ _And so I have to say before I go  
_

 _That I just want you to know  
_ _I've found a reason for me  
_ _To change who I used to be  
_ _A reason to start over new  
_ _and the reason is you_ _"  
_ _-The Reason_ by _Hoobastank_

* * *

 **Metropolis  
** **June 13, 21:04 EST**

After the previous night, Kara just couldn't let it go. She wasn't crazy, she had _seen_ it, her and Siobhan managed to actually _work_ together against Ace, and for a second, no matter how small, her best friend had looked back at her without malice.

But the Irishwoman was stubborn, and immediately remembered she was mad, no matter how unreasonable it was. So Kara resolved to track her down, and actually talk. She could've done it during the day, but Siobhan could easily run away from Linda Lang.

Supergirl, however, was fast, and _very_ persistent.

A brief stop by Siobhan's apartment showed that she was out, whether patrolling for crime, the Black Banshee, or even as herself.

So Kara flew to the top of the Wayne building, and stopped to listen out for any clubs with live music. She detected five.

Two had loud, abrasive 'techno' music, and a third was a karaoke bar, which Kara knew Siobhan wouldn't be caught dead in unless she had a friend to use as an excuse. That left two more, which were playing the exact kind of heavy rock that Siobhan usually performed.

Kara zipped over to the first, ducking into a cramped space filled with nothing but women, many, if not all of whom looked over at Kara upon her entry, a mix of pleasantly shocked expressions, and strange smiles of appreciation?

On the stage, there was an all-woman band, but none of them had her best friend's distinct white crop of hair.

So the Kryptonian hurriedly, but carefully, brushed a number women off herself on her way out, and sped over to the second bar. This held an actual mix of men and women, none of whom seemed to be as happy to see her as the women in the other club.

In fact, she received a small sea of distrusting and disgusted glares. Even the redhead woman on stage cut her song short, just to glare at Kara. She quickly shot out of _this_ club too, maybe even quicker than the last given how clearly she wasn't wanted.

With all possibility of finding Siobhan in any one place gone, Kara switched focus, and assumed she was patrolling as the Banshee. If she made sure to stop by every crime in progress, or accident, she would find the girl.

So the blonde set out to do just that, stopping some muggings, a robbery getaway, and an apartment fire.

But while she came across more than a few criminals, Kara never found the Irishwoman she was looking for.

Instead, only a mix of gratitude, and stubborn, prideful scorn met her, and not the kind she recieved from her former best friend.

She stood atop the Wayne tower once again, this time lazily scanning the city for more crimes. It was getting a bit tedious, and more then a little annoying that Siobhan was nowhere to be found, and she had even stopped by her apartment again, just in case.

Then a scream cut through her thoughts, coming from the theatre. Followed by a second, far louder, far higher, and far more _powerful_ scream. Then silence.

She jumped off the tower, and shot over towards the theatre, making sure to keep an ear out for anything else. Still silence. There wasn't even a show on, with all the lights out, and no motion within, based on her infrared vision, which picked up no heat signatures.

Slowly, and carefully, Kara stepped into the deserted theatre, creeping through the hallways bathed in complete darkness, and silence. She stepped out into the main theatre, and found a single light being shone on a figure on the stage.

She had short, light hair, and wore clothing _exactly_ like Siobhan. Knly she lay unmoving, and Kara could see blood beginning to trickle out past her head.

Kara sped over, and dropped to her knees beside the body in panic, finding that, while the woman was dead, she wasn't Siobhan.

A low, mocking chuckle broke the silence, while smoke drifted in to coat the stage. Stepping out of one of the wings, came a man in long black clothing, with long black hair, and pale white skin.

He had sharp blue eyes, and a mocking grin.

"Black Banshee," Kara spat, standing up.

"Indeed, the very same," he extended his arms. "Did you like my trap?" He asked, gesturing to the dead young woman. "A little crude, but you cannot deny results."

"You killed an innocent woman, why?"

"For _you_ my dear," he grinned wider. "I've been watching my dear little Banshee, and I saw how she spends so much time with you, the _Supergirl._ And when I noticed you were out flying through the city, like a little bird, I saw my opportunity."

"Monologuing? Isn't that a little cocky?"

"Only if you lose. You are _greatly_ outmatched."

"What _opportunity?"_ Kara asked. "Why me?"

"Because, I know the only way to get my little girl accept her dark side. To allow her fear, and anger take over. If I kill the one person she cares for, she will fall," he stepped closer.

"You intend to kill me?"

"Isn't that clear?"

"I'm not so easy to take down, you know."

"Maybe not for mortals. I'm anything _but_ mortal," he boasted. In a flash, he vanished, and reappeared right in front of her.

But after fighting alongside Siobhan for so long, she was ready for the move. She knew every trick the Irishwoman would pull, and she at least had practice. Black Banshee hadn't been actively hunting, and fighting people, least of all Kryptonians.

So the moment he rematerialised in front of her, Kara backhanded him to her right, off the stage. He crashed into a few lines of seats, before halting, and sitting up in the ground with a scowl.

Another blink, and Kara stepped to the side, utilising her super-speed. He lunged into the thin air she had been standing in a half-second earlier, and almost fell. Then he really _did_ fall, when she threw out a leg to trip him.

So far, the 'fight' had been one of the easiest of Kara's career. She didn't really see what Siobhan was so worried about. She moved to stomp on the back of his head, but only hit wood as he blinked, and reappeared behind her.

He threw a punch at the back of her head, but was sidestepped, and had his arms grabbed. With an easy tug, she flipped him over her shoulder, and back onto the ground.

This time, she immediately drilled her knee into his chest, which blasted him through the wooden stage. She lifted her foot off the ground to attempt it again, but once more only stomped on the splintering wood below as he blinked out of the hole.

The moment he rematerialised before her again, he threw a kick into her gut, providing his first bit of offence. She was sent flying off the stage, and through the rows of seats, breaking through many of them as she scraped through the floor beneath.

The Banshee then blinked over to her, and picked the girl up by her neck, and tossed her back towards the stage. She hit it's edge, right where it dropped off into the ground below, and broke a significant chunk into it with her body.

This time when he blinked over, she grabbed with her own hands, and shot off the ground, and through the wall to one side of them. They blasted out the brick and wood into the night sky.

She continued the path, flying him through building after building, until her suddenly vanished from her grip. By the time she stopped in the air, he had reappeared on a building rooftop several blocks back, already rushing back to the theatre.

She shot after him, and tried to pick him back up, but every attempt was met with the Banshee once again blinking just out of her grip, and onto the next rooftop. Eventually, he managed to blink back through the large hole Supergirl had blown in the theatre's wall.

She followed him through the hole, but found he had disappeared as she gently touched down on the stage. Suddenly, a weight was thrown onto her back, as Banshee leapt onto her. She reached back, and grabbed him by the hair, and flipped him over her head, into the ground.

She then hoisted him back up, and locked her arms around his waist. Jumping backwards into the seating, she suplexed him through several rows, parallel to the groove her own body had dug out earlier, and left him lying in the debris.

She stood up, and jumped into the air, allowing herself to hover over him. Her eyes began to glow a bright red, and just moments after he once again disappeared from her line of sight, a pair of thin red lasers shot out, and carved through the hole he once lay in.

Kara noticed him as he rematerialised over on the stage, and shot over with the intention of tackling him. But as she grew near, he smoothly stepped,to the side, and grabbed her by the neck as she passed.

He hoisted her high above himself, squeezing her neck tight, ignoring her attempts, to kick him away, and flexing his grip a little each time she almost broke free. He gripped her neck a little tighter, and leaned in closer. With a victorious grin, he inhaled, and Kara could feel herself begin to weaken. As if the warmth was being sucked from her body, and feet went cold, and then her legs.

Black began to sneak in on the edge of her vision. Every time she tried in inhale, it was like the breath was being sucked right back out. She could feel the sunstone in her body begin reacting, though the slow nature of the attack made sure that the defensive spines formed within her body just as slow.

This was the image Siobhan entered upon, having taken a little longer after hearing the sounds of screams at the other end of the city.

She saw the figure in red and blue having the life sucked from her by the Black Banshee. Panicked, she blinked over tot he stage, and tackled the pair. Kara rolled away, and began coughing violently, trying to regain her breath, while Siobhan stood across from her father.

She had seen the police gathered outside, so she ordered them to give the heroes a few more minutes to try stopping him. They reluctantly agreed, while she rushed in.

"About time you joined," he grinned.

Rather than respond, Siobhan charged at him, and just before they met, she blinked behind him. She swung her elbow back at his head, but he ducked, and threw a leg upwards towards her own head.

She blocked the kick with her forearm, and moved to kick him in the gut instead, but he vanished, and reappeared behind her. He then moved to throw a punch at the side of her gut, but she stepped to the side.

She threw her own punch at his face, but he caught her fist, and moved to uppercut her. Instead, his fist met with thin air, as she once again blinked to his side, and swung around for a kick into his gut. He dropped to his knees, and bent backwards, her foot sailing over him. Then he stood, and tried to clothesline her.

She caught his arm, and tried to flip him sideways, but just as she shifted her weight into the move, he also, once more, vanished from her grip, and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind in a similar way to how Supergirl had earlier.

He hoisted her into the air, but lost his grip, while Siobhan flipped, and landed on her feet just behind him. She threw a leg out to kick him in the lower back, but he grabbed her leg from behind, and tried to swing her around to his front again.

Instead, she vanished for a third time, and reappeared standing face to face with him. She let out a death wail, which tore seats from their positions bolted to the floor behind him, and sent any debris or dust still in the area shooting off in the same direction.

He simply stood there and withstood the wail, not even flinching. Then, once the sonic waves subsided, he sucked in a deep breath, and released his own death wail.

His was significantly stronger, and splintered the wooden stage, shredded the curtains behind her, and actually managed to push her back a foot. But much like hers had on him, the sonic wave had little effect on her.

He took a moment to admire the girl, and whatever part of him was still her father felt a little pride, before being overtaken by the Banshee once more. The announcement from outside that the police were going to enter caught his attention. It was more than he wished to deal with right now.

So with a smirk, he stepped backwards, melting into the shadows. "I'll be watching," he warned, before disappearing completely.

Siobhan ran to Kara, and helped her sit-up, while she still recovered for her near-death experience minutes ago. Kara looked up at the girl, and smiled thankfully. Siobhan didn't smile back.

"I'm... Sorry," she managed, looking away in shame. "I shouldn't have been so stubborn, and it nearly got ye killed." Once she saw Kara being held up by her neck, no doubt seconds away from death... She didn't want to remember that.

"So am I. I've never fought something so... Tough, before. I should have believed you when you told me how dangerous he was.

The sound of police finally rushing into the theatre grabbed their attention, and Kara groaned. "I _really_ don't feel like dealing with them," she scowled.

"Then shall we?" Asked the Irishwoman, extending a hand. Kara raised one eyebrow, but took the hand regardless. She was quickly pulled into a tight embrace, and suddenly felt as if she was weightless, more so than when she flew.

Moments later, the weight caught up to her at once, and she stumbled to the side, almost vomiting, and almost plummeting off the skyscraper roof they were now on.

Down below, Kara could see through the hole in the wall of the theatre that looked directly down into where they had been.

"I can only blink if I can see where I'm goin'," Siobhan called.

She had dropped her Banshee form, and was now standing as a normal person. Kara nodded, and took a seat on the edge of the roof, as her best friend followed beside her.

They were silent for a beat. Then two, and three. Eventually Kara grew weary of the silence, regardless of it's comfort. "So... You wanna explain how this whole 'Banshee' thing works?" She asked.

"It's a long story," Siobhan warned.

"I think I'll survive," Kara assured with a smile.

The Irishwoman sighed, "Well, the whole thing goes back to my ancestors. Specifically, Siobhan McDougal," she began, to a dramatically long groan from the blonde beside her.

"Hey, ye asked. Anyway, way back when Ireland was still ruled by different... 'Clans', her father was their clan's leader. It wasn't unheard of for women to inherit leadership from their fathers, so Siobhan always expected she would be next in line.

"Only, her father named her younger brother as successor instead, which angered her. When she asked why, he told her she was weak, and unworthy. So she decided to summon a great spirit, and made a pact with it to make her powerful. Only the pact was a curse, and Siobhan McDougal became the first 'Banshee'.

"Eventually, the spirit of the banshee within her would grow too powerful, and kill her, but not before she could pass a little piece to her first-born child. This is my family curse. Every first-born inherits a piece of the spirit from their parent, all the way down to me, and when a host dies, but the Banshee isn't in control, their piece is passed on to the next in line."

"So how does the _Black_ Banshee come into play?" Kara asked.

"When the Banshee spirit inherits a new host, it immediately tries to take control. Some of my family members were weak, and succumbed to small pieces of the spirit, and some were strong enough to endure the whole spirit. But if a host is too weak, and allows the Banshee to take control. Then it kills them, and brings them back.

"Only, when they come back they're more like my father, a monster, not a person. Right now, there are only two halves of the Banshee, one in him, and one in me. I'm strong enough to control my half, but when I kill him, and that's the only way to stop him, the Banshee within me will become whole. If I can't control it whole, I'll die, but I'll die with it." She explained.

"What do you mean 'die with it'?" Kara asked.

"I don't plan on ever having children. The only way to kill the Banshee forever, is to end my family line."

Kara nodded, and exhaled. "Heavy. Wait, if the Banshee is so hostile, how come when you kind of... _Become_ it, you're fine?" Kara asked.

"Like I said, I can control it. The Banshee takes my physical form, but not my mind. It's still me, and the only time we're separated is in my dreams. That said, the spirit feeds on emotion. It weakens with my fear, amplifies my anger. We're lucky I've only got half of the Banshee within me, or I'd have been _much_ more dangerous these past few days," she joked.

Kara didn't laugh, but nodded along, and continued staring over the cit beside her best friend.

"How did we never figure out each other's secret identities?" Siobhan suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, yer disguise is a wig and glasses. And my hair is pretty distinct."

"I guess. But then, people have said one of my defining traits is my eyes," Kara reasoned.

"Oh?" Siobhan smiled, looked to the girl beside her.

"Yeah. They say they're surprisingly _bright_ and _blue,_ or whatever," she shrugged.

"Well, they are pretty... Uh, pretty _noticeable."_

"That's what the glasses are for. My cousin uses glasses too, by the way. I suppose they kinda... Put a barrier between people and my eyes, just enough to make me less obvious," she explained. "But yeah, we're pretty stupid if we never figured it out," she laughed, the Irishwoman joining in.

"Let's not fight anymore," Siobhan declared. "I don't exactly want a girl who can fry me with a _look_ angry with me, after all," she smirked.

"Don't worry... I'd probably drop you off a tower." Kara jumped off the building, and flew away following the comment.

* * *

 **A/N Yay! Exposition via arbitrary subplots!**

 **Brief example/explanation on the Banshee thing:** _ **Banshee is in three people. First loses control, dies, becomes Black Banshee. Second just dies, but remains in control. The piece goes into third person. Third person kills Black Banshee. That piece also enters third person. All three pieces are in third person.**_


End file.
